Pregnancy Still An Issue In The Workplace

Pregnancy takes a huge toll on the human body. There's the morning sickness, the endless need to pee, and the fatigue, to name a few. Changes such as increase in heart rate and body temperature also add to the discomfort. A working woman still needs to do her job, and do it well. On top of that, she has to worry about how her manager and colleagues will take her pregnancy and the inevitable maternity leave.

In a 2011 research conducted by the former Equality Authority and the HSE Crisis Pregnancy Programme in Ireland, according to Irish Examiner, three in ten women reported unfair treatment at work once news of their pregnancy had been revealed. This included loss of a bonus or promotion, unsuitable additional workload, and even unpleasant comments from workmates.

The Guardian reports a rise in pregnancy discrimination in Great Britain since 2005 with 45 percent of women reporting their experiences. In a survey of 3,000 mothers, 75 percent shared that in job interviews they felt that their potential employer's knowledge of their pregnancy affected their chances of being hired.

This comes as a shock to Caroline Waters, deputy chair of the Equality and Human Rights Commission (ECHR), who describes these findings as "unacceptable in modern Britain" and urges the government to take the necessary actions.

Some of the ECHR's suggestions were for the government to lower employment tribunal fees and consider a collective insurance scheme to provide small to medium businesses the pay and cover for these women's maternity leave. They should also consider including return rates in pay gap reporting after maternity leave.

The government has responded that while it's not the right time to lower employment tribunal fees and rejected a six-month increase in the time limit for a claim, it will accept the rest of the ECHR's suggestions. Hopefully, a combined effort between them and businesses of all sizes will get rid of pregnancy discrimination for good.