Maternity Leave as a Great Burden to Most Women as Well as Businesses - Essay Example

Maternity Leave Under the current United Kingdom law, all women who are about to give birth are entitled to take up to one year’s maternity leave. During this period they are paid a substantial amount out of their normal salary. However, the rules tend to vary with time and they are paid more or less in a week based on the work situation (Jones, 2013). Additionally, women are also entitled to paid time off and flexible working hours. Based on these requirements that are incorporated in the UK law, maternity leave is regarded as a great burden to most women as well as businesses. This legislation simply puts off most of the employers in employing women. Research conducted in UK has indicated that most companies are quite reluctant in employing women that are of the child bearing age (Davis, 2005, p 18). Majority of the politicians have aired out their grievances stating that there is need to amend the family legislation as well as the optional maternity leave because it has proven to be a disadvantage for most women in the workplace. Women who do ordinary jobs tend to fair badly when they take up the sole option of maternity leave. As soon as they resume their jobs it is quite difficult for them to catch up with their lost earnings owing to the fact that they don’t get any pension rights while on maternity leave (Bunkham, 2013). Reports on pregnancy discrimination have indicated that most women in UK experience discrimination at their work simply for the fact of being pregnant or taking up a maternity leave. Some women have also complained of being thrown out of their jobs. Despite the fact that women have been given the rights at work regarding things like extension of their statutory maternity leave as well as pay, paid time off in order to attend doctors’ appointments and the right to get flexible working hours there is a great challenge emerging from pregnancy discrimination. A lot needs to be done by the government in ensuring that women can be able to resume their careers and work duties without any discrimination and restrictions (Sargeant & Lewis, 2005, p 19). Most employers tend to illegally discriminate their women employees as soon as they get pregnant and they are usually made redundant when on maternity leave. Maternity leave therefore, tends to damage women careers, owing to the fact that as soon as their back to work a lot of events and duties have passed them. During maternity leave, most women are not able to gain experience in their line of duty and this is a common setback for those who want to progress (James, 2004, p 71). Even amidst their struggles to be the top in the business there is emerging evidence that indicate most women earn less generally. The difference that has been noted between the average pay between women and men still persists in the workplace despite legislation that has been set to prevent it. The significant reason for the unequal pay is simply connected to the law on maternity leave. It is easy for employers to make changes to the company without inclusion of a woman employee who is on maternity leave. As a result the woman returns back only to find out that her position and duties were scrapped off. Fortunately, the present Equality Act prevents all women from being made redundant in their work place as well as the issue of unequal pay (Wadham, 2010, p 43). The types of employer as well as the nature of employment are critical aspects with regards to the unfavourable treatment that pregnant women or those on maternity leave are given. Research indicates that women who work in hospitality and retail sectors are subjected to more unfair treatment unlike those working in the public sectors. There are concerns that have been put to most companies based on their hiring criteria. Some companies tend to have a lower rate of female employees because of the concern of employers based on the economic strain that they will be subjected to once a female employee is on maternity leave (Bunkham, 2013). It is because of this that a majority of the women searching for jobs are experiencing a hard time getting employment. Measures should be put to tackle the concerns of women based on the treatment inflicted by the legislation on maternity leave in the work place. According to Davis et al, he mentioned that out of a research he conducted in UK six out of every thirty five women suffered from health issues based on the unfavourable treatment their employers gave them. Most women complained that they were subjected to health issues such as stress, high blood pressure and also poor growth of the baby thus they did not enjoy their maternity leave. For most women maternity leave with regards to work may be a long period of stress (Davis, 2005, p 11). The law is the law and regardless of the legislation supporting sole option of maternity leave employers should abide to the law. It is highly unfair that women should be less privileged when they choose to have children while working. Arguments have been made on the issue of maternity leave and some women politicians have even proposed the abolishment of the law. According Sheila Lawlor a director at Politeia, she claims that small firms are refraining from hiring women of childbearing age in order to avoid the potential costs that are brought up by maternal leave (Lawlor, 2012). The issue of avoiding statutory pay would enable the firms to be free to recruit more people. A good employer would keep an employee informed concerning matters that may affect their duties. For instance, in the case of any job promotions or even job vacancies employers should notify the women employees while own their maternity leave. However, this is usually not the case with most employers as they barely keep contact during this period (Blau, 1997, p 47). Some of the employment rights for women while on maternity leave are usually violated. It is important for all women to note that the time they take for maternity leave should be incorporated to the time they have worked with their employer. Women in UK are allowed to make claims in case their employers dismiss them unfairly or in the case of discrimination during pregnancy and maternity leave. However, most women tend not take up these claims simply because once their back at work they may eventually end up being sacked. It is quite unfortunate that some women are subjected to so many hardships in their work place during their pregnancy and maternity leave. It is the decision of each woman undertaking a maternity leave to decide on how long they want to be off work out of the 52 weeks recommended by the UK law. This is usually a decision that is made together with the employers’ judgement (Jones, 2013). Nevertheless, for women that are more career oriented the 52 weeks is usually out of their scope, thus they opt for a much shorter maternity leave. This clearly states that women in the work place are quite disadvantaged simply because they have to sacrifice a lot if they want to prosper in their work. Even when majority of the employers choose to accommodate women in their businesses especially in fields that require full time maximum attention, their beliefs about maternity leave effects have not changed at all. Many businesses at present are struggling with efficiency and financial burdens of filling the high end positions occupied by women during their maternity leave. Most employers are often not sure whether some of the women will return back to work after the maternity leave, or they would choose to reduce their workload or even quit (James, 2004, p 54). Such reasons are the major reasons why women often do not get promotions in their workplace or rather the reason why they do not hold high end positions in the work places. Maternity leave to most employers is simply a setback that can be avoided if they employ less women employees. Taking maternity leave for most women may look as a luxury but for those who return to work they may tend to experience stress and new pressures. All these new pressure may affect the performance of the women in the long run. The management may decide to improve or worsen the situation of the women once their back from maternity leave. Given the amount of new responsibilities that women encounter after maternal leave it is quite understandable that women might be quite stressed. Nevertheless it is the duty of employers to treat them fairly. Majority of the decisions made by employers in this context simply revolve around the law concerning maternity leave. Thus this law should be addressed effectively to favour women rights in the workplace. References Blau, F. D. (1997). Gender ad family issues in the workplace. New York, Russell Sage Foundation. Bunkham, T. (2013). The Truth about Maternity leave in the UK. Davis, S., Neathey, F., Ragan, J., & Willison, R. (2005). Pregnancy Discrimination at work: a qualitative study. Manchester. Lawlor, S. (2012). Maternity leave is a burden to most women. James, G. (2004). Pregnancy discrimination at work: a review. Manchester, Equal Opportunities Commission. Jones, P. (2013). Maternity leave: Your rights explained. Advice and Health. Sargeant, M., & Lewis, D. (2005). Employment law. Harlow, Pearson Longman. Wadham, J. (2010). Blackstone’s guide to the Equality Act 2010. Oxford, Oxford University Press. Read More