Tag Archives: Pregnancy discrimination

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October 7, 2015

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Discrimination

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Is it a bird? Is it a plane? No, it’s … Equality Dave!

As you may have heard, there have been sightings of a new superhero. In Manchester, of all places. And, as luck would have it, he chose to reveal himself to humanity in a conference hall packed full of Conservative Party delegates, and the massed ranks of political journalism’s finest. This is what he had to say:

For too many people, even a good education isn’t enough. There are other barriers that stand in their way. Picture this. You’ve graduated with a good degree. You send out your CV far and wide. But you get rejection after rejection. What’s wrong? It’s not the qualifications or the previous experience. It’s just two words at the top: first name, surname.

Do you know that in our country today: even if they have exactly the same qualifications, people with white-sounding names are nearly twice as likely to get call backs for jobs than people with ethnic-sounding names? This is a true story. One young black girl had to change her name to Elizabeth before she got any calls to interviews. That, in 21st century Britain, is disgraceful. We can talk all we want about opportunity, but it’s meaningless unless people are really judged equally.

It really is meaningless, really. But he did at least get a Blondie song title in there (10 points). And there was more:

Opportunity doesn’t mean much to a gay person rejected for a job because of the person they love. It doesn’t mean much to a disabled person prevented from doing what they’re good at because of who they are. I’m a dad of two daughters – opportunity won’t mean anything to them if they grow up in a country where they get paid less because of their gender rather than how good they are at their work. The point is this: you can’t have true opportunity without real equality. And I want our party to get this right.

Yes us, the party of the fair chance; the party of the equal shot. The party that doesn’t care where you come from, but only where you’re going. Us, the Conservatives. I want us to end discrimination and finish the fight for real equality in our country today.

Woo hoo! End discrimination and finish the fight for real equality! Today! Well, maybe not today, but soon. Very soon! Possibly even before the sun explodes and devours our planet. All hail Equality Dave, not just an equality superhero but the “new leader of the British left”, according to Dan Hodges of the equality-mad Daily Torygraph.

But … hang on. Where was Equality Dave when we needed him? Where was he, for example, when the government was introducing upfront fees of up to £1,200 to bring a tribunal claim for disability discrimination, or for sexual orientation discrimination? Fees that led to a sudden, substantial and sustained fall of as much as 80 per cent in the number of tribunal claims for disability, race, sex or other discrimination.

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Where was Equality Dave when the government abolished the ‘questionnaire procedure’ in discrimination claims – a procedure that facilitated the revealing of crucial information held by the employer, but not otherwise available to the claimant? Where was Equality Dave when the near abolition of civil legal aid and other funding cuts caused the closure of one in six law centres, and the loss of some 300 specialist CAB advisers? Where was Equality Dave when the Equality & Human Rights Commission was stripped of its duty to promote a society with equal opportunity for all, and had its government funding cut by more than half?

And where was Equality Dave in July, when that enfeebled Equality & Human Rights Commission published the findings of its 18-month, £1 million research study, showing that 54,000 new and expectant mothers are forced out of work each year by rogue and dinosaur employers? Did it not make him angry that, when his two daughters grow up and have their own children, there is a one in four chance that one of them will suffer such unlawful discrimination?

Well, if it did make him angry, Equality Dave kept his anger to himself. Because Equality Dave was nowhere to be seen, then. Maybe he was still flying around, above the clouds, out of humanity’s view. Biding his time. Or something.

But at least now he’s here, and he’s going to end discrimination today! Well, soon. Soonish. Somehow.

Postscript: And what’s this? Equality Dave has barely had time to dust off his superhero outfit before his Party’s MEPs – that is, the MEPs of the party of “the fair chance and the equal shot” – have voted against an EU resolution aimed at reducing the gender pay gap. Equality Dave, sort out those MEPs!

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August 4, 2015

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Discrimination

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BIS/EHRC research prompts a pregnant silence in Westminster

On 24 July, as I was busy lying on a beach in Portugal, the Department for Business Innovation & Skills (BIS) and the Equality & Human Rights Commission (ECHR) published the first findings of their joint, £1 million research study into pregnancy and maternity discrimination at work. Though you could be forgiven for not realising, from the associated press and media coverage, that the study was very much a joint enterprise between BIS and the EHRC. For the current crop of ministers exhibited no desire to associate themselves with the outcome of an initiative announced with some fanfare by their Conservative colleague and then minister for women and equalities, Maria Miller, in October 2013.

Mrs Miller – now chair of the newly-formed women and equalities select committee – did at least manage to tweet a call for ministers to “act to stop employers flouting [the] law protecting pregnant women”. And former BIS minister Jo Swinson – seemingly the driving force behind the 2013 decision to commission the research – went further, describing the findings as “sobering” and using a blog for Mumsnet to call for “a zero tolerance approach to [such] discrimination”. But from prime minister David Cameron, current minister for women and equalities Nicky Morgan, justice secretary Michael Gove, and BIS ministers such as Sajid Javid and Nick Boles, there was not a peep.

This is, to put it mildly, disappointing. For the BIS/EHRC research findings are not just sobering, but shocking. Despite the vast majority of the more than 3,000 employers surveyed for the research reporting that the statutory legal rights relating to pregnancy and maternity are reasonable and easy to implement, the 18-month study found that:

  • Unlawful maternity and pregnancy discrimination is now more common in Britain’s workplaces than ever before, with as many as 54,000 pregnant women and new mothers – one in nine – unfairly forced out of their job every year. This is almost twice the figure of 30,000 suggested by the then Equal Opportunities Commission in 2005, and very close to the figure of “up to 60,000” suggested by Maternity Action in its December 2013 report Overdue;
  • Single mothers, and young mothers (under 25), are at particular risk;
  • One in three women feel their needs during pregnancy or as a new mother are not supported willingly by their employer;
  • One in six new mothers suffer a negative impact on their health or stress levels because of poor treatment at work; and
  • Only one in 12 (8%) of those women who raise a concern about their treatment at work obtain legal advice from an external advice provider such as Maternity Action or a CAB.

You’d think ministers first elected (in 2010) on a manifesto promising to make Britain “the most family-friendly country in Europe” and positioning themselves as the ‘true party of workers’ might have something to say about such authoritative research findings.

However, as Ros Bragg of Maternity Action noted in the Guardian, they might then have to explain not only why they’ve done nothing to address what amounts to a significant deterioration in the position of pregnant women and new mothers in the workplace over the past decade, but also why they have acted to make it far more difficult for women to challenge their employer and obtain justice. In particular, they might have to explain why, since July 2013, women wishing to pursue a tribunal claim for pregnancy, maternity or other discrimination have had to pay up to £1,200 in upfront tribunal fees.

Pursuing a tribunal claim has always been a daunting prospect, especially for pregnant women and new mothers, and – as the following chart shows – the number of claims for pregnancy-related detriment or dismissal has never been huge. But the number of such claims has fallen by 40%, from an average of 126 per month before fees, to just 75 per month in 2014.

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In other words, in 2014 just 893 (1.6%) of the 54,000 women who, according to the meticulous BIS/EHRC research, were forced out of work on account of their pregnancy or maternity leave issued a tribunal claim against their former employer. Not so much a ‘zero tolerance approach to discrimination’ then, as a charter for dinosaur and rogue employers. Yet, as noted by Sally Brett of the TUC, this is hardly surprising when one

“pauses to consider what a new mother is dealing with: sleepless nights, a newborn baby demanding round-the-clock attention, a significantly reduced income, and increased expense. No wonder so many women find it so hard to find the time or energy to research the law, seek advice and lodge a well drafted legal claim within three months of the discrimination they have suffered. No wonder that so few feel ready to stump up £1,200 to get a case lodged and heard at tribunal.”

That government ministers should have nothing at all to say about this is troubling enough. But Cameron, Morgan, Gove and Javid were hardly put to shame by their ministerial shadows. Labour’s press office did put out a brief statement by shadow equalities minister Gloria De Piero – “It’s time to look at how we can strengthen the law and scrap tribunal fees so cost is never a barrier to justice” – but otherwise the silence from Labour MPs, including the four leadership candidates, was almost as deafening as that from government ministers. As far as I can tell, neither Yvette Cooper nor Liz Kendall considered the issue worthy of their comment, despite their (laudable) record of highlighting such discrimination, and the pink bus stayed locked away in its garage.

Such reticence from the party that Liz Kendall describes – in a campaigning piece issued just five days after the launch of the BIS/EHRC research – as “the greatest champion of equality and opportunity that our country has ever known” is mystifying and, it must be said, deeply depressing. It may well be time, in the words of Maternity Action’s Ros Bragg, for ministers to “move beyond family-friendly rhetoric to delivering practical solutions to this persistent and growing problem”, but shadow ministers have yet to deliver any credible rhetoric. It’s not as if the issue is that complex – tens of thousands of women are being forced out of work simply for having babies. And if the Labour opposition really has nothing to say about that, then it’s no surprise that government ministers feel able to sit on their hands too.

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March 10, 2014

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Tribunals

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So, exactly how much does it cost to make an employment tribunal claim?

You might be wondering – no, I’m sure you’re wondering – how much it costs to make an employment tribunal claim these days. It’s a good question. And who better to answer it than Jenny Willott, the Liberal Democrat MP for Cardiff Central and current BIS employment relations minister?

Just a few weeks ago, in the House of Commons, the Minister rather testily insisted to MPs that “it does not cost women [who have been subject to pregnancy discrimination] more than £1,000 to go to a tribunal. It costs only £250 to start a claim, and most cases are finalised well before a hearing”.

Well, thank goodness for that!  We wouldn’t want excessive cost obstructing workers’ access to justice.

However, somewhat confusingly, last week the Minister wrote that it costs “on average £1,800 to present a claim at tribunal” for, say, pregnancy discrimination. It does?

Yes, it does. It says so in Annex A of the BIS final regulatory impact assessment on Acas early conciliation, quietly published by BIS last week.  This shows how the Minister’s £1,800 figure consists of three elements, each one calculated in 2012: there’s £714 for “time spent on case”, £23 for “travel & communication”, and a whopping £1,017 for “costs for advice & representation post ET1”. (Yes, I know. But who are we to question figures approved by the BIS employment relations minister?)

That comes to a total of £1,754, which BIS then rounds up to £1,800.  So, the Minister’s figure of £1,800 does not include anything for the hefty upfront tribunal fees introduced in July 2013.

Which means it costs, on average, £2,050 to issue and pursue a tribunal claim for pregnancy discrimination. Which, according to both Maternity Action and the equalities minister, Maria Miller, is a serious and growing problem.  And, where the case goes to a hearing, for which a fee of £950 is payable, that average cost rises to £3,000.

So now we know.  Thank you, Jenny.

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December 9, 2013

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Overdue: a plan to tackle pregnancy & maternity discrimination

In 2005, three years before the global financial crisis of late 2008 and subsequent economic recession, a landmark study by the Equal Opportunities Commission found that half of all pregnant women suffered a related disadvantage at work, and that each year 30,000 were forced out of their job.  Eight years on, all the available evidence suggests that such pregnancy and maternity discrimination is now more common than ever before, and that as many as 60,000 women are pushed out of work each year.

Faced with mounting evidence of this proliferation of pregnancy and maternity discrimination, key government ministers have, until very recently, simply denied that there is a problem.  But in November, announcing £1 million of funding to enable the Equalities & Human Rights Commission (EHRC) to undertake a new study of the issue, ministers finally accepted that such unlawful discrimination “remains prevalent and more needs to be done to tackle it”.

Unfortunately, since 2010 the Coalition Government has made it even harder than it was in 2005 for women to tackle such discrimination.  Access to already overstretched sources of free employment advice, such as law centres and CABx, has been shrunk by the abolition of almost all civil legal aid – since April, three law centres have closed their doors for good.  The ‘questionnaire procedure’ in employment tribunal discrimination claims – which facilitates the revealing of crucial information held by the employer but otherwise not available to the claimant – is set to be abolished in April 2014.  And, perhaps most damagingly of all, since July 2013 those wishing to pursue a tribunal claim for pregnancy, maternity or other discrimination must pay up to £1,200 in upfront tribunal fees.

Bringing a tribunal claim is a daunting challenge at the best of times, and especially so for pregnant women and new mothers: the odds are stacked against them at a time when they need to protect their own and their baby’s health, and their income.  The great majority do not have access to the support and advice of a trade union, and simply cannot afford to pay for legal advice.  The introduction of tribunal fees of up to £1,200 only serves to further deter women with well-founded claims from taking legal action.

With pregnant women and new mothers facing the biggest living standards crisis in a generation, and the Government asserting that “we cannot deal with the economic challenges we face without properly using the talents of women in the workplace”, a new report by Maternity Action – Overdue: a plan of action to tackle pregnancy & maternity discrimination now – suggests it is time for ministers to translate their grand words into action.  The scale of the problem – and the impact both on individual women and their families, and on gender equality more widely – demands a firm response from government to ensure job security for all women during their pregnancy and maternity leave.

The announcement of £1 million additional funding to enable the EHRC to undertake a new study of the incidence of pregnancy and maternity discrimination is very welcome, as is the belated recognition by ministers of the scale and systemic nature of the problem.  But the EHRC study is unlikely to report for some time, quite possibly not until late 2014, leaving little if any time for meaningful government action before the general election in May 2015.  In any case, the Government could very easily act now to better protect the rights of pregnant women and mothers at work.

Perhaps most importantly, Maternity Action says the Government should scrap – or at least reduce to a nominal level – the upfront fees for discrimination and other employment tribunal claims introduced in July 2013.  There is now a broad consensus – including both the TUC and the CBI – that the Ministry of Justice has got it badly wrong on fees, and that, at the very least, the fees regime should be “redesigned to incentivise early resolution of disputes rather than maximise revenue” for the Ministry.  In the words of the CBI, claimant “fees should never be a barrier to justice”.

Secondly, the Government should abandon its planned abolition of the ‘questionnaire procedure’ in discrimination claims.  The proposed abolition will benefit no one, and will save no public money.

Thirdly, the Government should establish a process for publicly ‘naming and shaming’ employers found by a tribunal to have broken the law on pregnancy, maternity or other discrimination.

Fourthly, the Government should take speedy and robust action to improve compliance with employment tribunal awards, to ensure that women awarded financial compensation for pregnancy or maternity discrimination by a tribunal actually receive the money due to them.

Fifthly, the Government should match its funding of the new EHRC investigation into the extent of pregnancy and maternity discrimination with funding for an information campaign aimed improving the awareness of both workers and employers of the law on such discrimination, and an injection of funding into the specialist information and advice services that pregnant women and new mothers need to help them protect their rights at work.

And, last but not least, the Government should send out a strong message to dinosaur employers that economic recession and ‘hard times’ are no excuse to flout the law.

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