Acas issues guidance to prevent further pregnancy and maternity discrimination in the workplace

Recent research suggests that pregnancy and maternity discrimination is one of the most common types of discrimination at work. Acas received more than 14,000 calls last year about pregnancy and maternity issues, an increase of almost 10% on the previous year. It continues to be of such concern that the Women & Equalities Committee have called on the Government to strengthen existing employment law protection and launched a separate inquiry into fathers and the workplace.

Of course, most employers do not set out to discriminate women who are pregnant or on maternity leave, but some may not understand the law, or can get lost in the detail especially given the extensive nature of legal protection given. Often complications arise when pregnancy and maternity protection has to interact with other contractual and legal protection such as redundancy and restructuring rights, holiday pay and bonus. Indeed the Government has already committed to reviewing and strengthening redundancy protection for pregnant employees and those returning from maternity leave.

Pregnancy and maternity discrimination complaints can do significant harm to an organisations’ reputation, damage good work around diversity and inclusion, as well as carry significant financial liability. Our experience from advising clients suggests that problems can arise inadvertently, with employers finding it difficult to work through the detailed legal provisions and case law. We contributed to the new guidance, in light of our expertise and this experience.

On 21 November 2017, Acas launched new guidance to help prevent pregnancy and maternity discrimination at work, support best practice, and help employers handle complaints when they arise. Acas’ new guidance will help employers stay on the right side of the law and employers should also be alert to the fact it will reinforce to women their rights and protections.

The new guidance tackles practical issues which arise and can help employers support all their staff, and avoid discrimination. It also addresses the steps which should be taken to ensure:

• women who are pregnant or on maternity leave feel that they belong
• employers avoid stereotyping and making assumptions
• that employers make the most of flexible working arrangements, and
• employers reduce the risk of discriminating.

Tackling these aspects allow businesses to take steps to retain talent, and avoid losing individuals with valuable skills and experience at significant cost to the business.