On the evening of the 30th of July, I was a guest on That’s Oxford TV along with Mike Foster (the Entrepreneurs Mentor), and our presenter Beverly Sunderland (director at Crossland Employment Solicitors). It was a great opportunity to discuss some current, hot employment law topics including the recent Equality and Human Rights Commission Survey, the Gender Pay Gap report, and Government tax-free childcare schemes.
In the first part, shown in the video below, we looked at the Equality and Human Rights survey. Among the many interesting findings in the survey, the most shocking was this statistic: 1 in 9 mothers are dismissed, made redundant, or treated so poorly that they needed to leave their place of work.
Even I was shocked by this high number. Only last week I had a conversation with a nurse whose daughter had been dismissed after announcing she was 3 months pregnant.
On a positive note, 4 in 5 employers reported that they felt it was in their own best interest and that of their business, to support pregnant women and those on maternity leave. Many employers in the survey also reported to see the benefits of Keeping in Touch KIT days, to ensure that working mums still feel part of the workplace. However, this is where the issues come in. Some mothers feel that they do not get enough contact during leave and some employers feel uncomfortable discussing the topic, for reasons such as the fear that they are adding pressure to their employee to return to work early.
The important thing to remember in all of this is that retaining and attracting talent is key in this ever changing world and this should be the real focus of any situation encouraging pregnant women back to the workplace.
Here at Reality HR, our flexible working model for attracting talent works really well, especially for returning, highly professional working mums. Although we know this model does not suit everyone there is a range of creative alternatives that can help a business keep it’s good people.
If you are experiencing any issues like this or want to explore some of those “creative alternatives”, then call right now on 01256 328 428 for a free 15 minute phone consultation or request a call back at your convenience.
https://youtube.com/watch?v=W0EnWLn9n0k%3Frel%3D0