A large number of employers were found to still have discriminatory attitudes towards employing pregnant employees and new mothers, as found by a survey from the Equality and Human Rights Commission.
What the survey reveals and what you need to be aware of when recruiting:
The Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) online survey, completed by 1,100 employers in the private sector found the following;
- 36% agreed that it was reasonable during the recruitment process to ask women about their plans to have children.
- 59% of employers stated that a woman should have to declare if she is pregnant during the interview process.
- 46% of employers thought it acceptable to ask female applicants if they had young children.
- 44% of employers agreed that women should work at least one years’
service with a business before deciding to have children and a similar
number thought that women who’ve had more than one pregnancy while in
the same job were a “burden” to their team.
- 32% of employers believed that women who become pregnant and new
mothers in work are “generally less interested in career progression”
than other employees.
- 41% of employers thought that pregnancy placed an “unnecessary cost burden” on the workplace.
The EHRC has suggested employers are still “living in the dark ages”.
Pregnancy and maternity discrimination legislation is clear. Pregnancy/maternity is one of the “protected characteristics” under the Equality Act 2010, making it unlawful to discriminate, whether directly or indirectly, on any related grounds.
For example:
- asking interview questions relating to the female applicants current
or future family / child plans could potentially lead to a claim of
direct sex discrimination.
- Not offering a job to a woman because she is pregnant amounts to
unfavourable treatment because of her pregnancy, which is direct
pregnancy discrimination.
Pregnant women are under no obligation to disclose their pregnancy at an interview. The EHRC’s Code of Practice on Employment recommends if an applicant volunteers such information, the interviewer must ensure it does not influence any recruitment decision.
Note;
It is always best not to ask any questions whatsoever of this nature during the recruitment process; be it on an application form or at an interview. Should you interview and decline a woman that is a)of child-bearing age, b) you know to be pregnant, or c) has young children.
Completely non-discriminatory reasons for declining the applicant must be provided, for example another job applicant scored higher on non-discriminating questions, had more relevant skills or work experience or a higher level of qualifications.
For a job applicant to prove discrimination at the recruitment stage is dif cult if there’s no evidence at all to support her suspicion that she’s been discriminated against.
For any further advice or information please contact the team here at SFB Consulting. Our offices are based in Bishop’s Stortford and London, but we offer our services and consultancy UK wide.
T:01279 874 676
E:info@sfb-consulting.com