10/08/2017
Blog article for employers by Paul Oakes, Manager of the Advisory Services Team
In 2016, half of the women who responded to an Equality Commission investigation believed that their career opportunities were negatively affected by their pregnancy or maternity leave. One-third said that they had been treated unfairly or disadvantaged for the same reasons.
That was no surprise. Complaints of sex discrimination on the grounds of pregnancy and maternity have - for years - been the single largest category of complaints of sex discrimination made to the Equality Commission. The Commission, over the past years, has been conducting an extensive training programme for employers and trade unions dealing with those issues. We have also developed revised employer guidance in relation to them.