Suella Braverman, who became the first cabinet minister to take maternity leave last year, said: “Unfortunately, employers are breaking the law and we need to change this culture. We need to ensure that more employers support women in the area. work. “ In an exclusive interview on Mother’s Day, she told Sky’s political editor Beth Rigby that it was “quite surreal” to call the prime minister and tell him she was pregnant and wanted maternity leave. Image: Suella Braverman said it was “very surreal” to call the prime minister and tell him she was pregnant and wanted maternity leave Ms Braverman said she was “terrified” at the prospect of making the call, but the prime minister’s response was to say it was “great news” and that he should “take whatever time it takes”, “we will solve it” outside.” But in order for the Attorney General to accept the prime minister’s encouragement to go on paid maternity leave, a law had to be passed by Parliament in a hurry. The “ministerial and other maternity benefits law” was passed into law in March last year – if not, it would have to resign from the government. “This has never happened before at cabinet level – I should have resigned” “I started working with the public service and my staff in the Attorney General’s Office to start preparing to see what should be done. And we quickly found out that this had never happened before at the cabinet level,” he told Sky News. “As a result, there was no prediction and I would have to give up if I wanted to have the baby and take some time to spend with her.” Image: Suella Braverman wants more employers to support working women “When we found out, when the prime minister found out, we were all very horrified. And that was what led to the passage of a new Parliament act to correct this anomaly.” “I cried all the time” after being watched for promotion after maternity leave But other mothers and activists argue that there are many such anomalies and agree with the Attorney General that maternity leave laws need to be changed to prevent discrimination. Jodie Sims had her first child eight years ago. Weeks before returning from maternity leave, the person in the role was promoted – without first proposing the new opening to Jodi. She told Sky News she felt isolated but lacked the energy – and money – to wage a potentially protracted legal battle. Instead, he eventually resigned. Image: Jodie Sims said she quit her job instead of giving a potentially protracted legal battle “I did not have the emotional strength at the time,” said Jodi. “I wish I could push them. Now there is a little more distance and I have a little more fire inside me. I did not have it inside me then. I cried all the time. I just had to let it go.” “There was also a cultural change, in that as part of my job we attended music awards and somehow went to live music events – I was no longer included in them.” “There was a specific one, and when I said ‘oh, I wish I had really gone to it’ and they said ‘oh, we just assumed you could not because of childcare’, so I was immediately excluded from things.” A quarter of pregnant women were discriminated against during the pandemic Government figures show that more than 50,000 women a year feel compelled to quit their jobs while pregnant and 1 in 20 are laid off each year. The TUC found that a quarter of pregnant women or young mothers were discriminated against during the pandemic, including exclusion from dismissals or leave. Current laws offer pregnant or maternal women some protection against dismissal. According to Regulation 10 of the 1999 Maternity and Paternity Leave Regulations, a woman on maternity leave is “entitled to be offered” a “suitable” vacancy where available, as soon as her job is in danger of dismissal. The intention is to give women priority on maternity leave over other people at risk of being fired. However, charities say some employers are breaking the law because they know it requires a full-time court to challenge their actions – a path taken by few women, whether they have just given birth or been away from work for up to a year. . Read more: Boris Johnson tells Sky News he fears Vladimir Putin could use chemical weapons, as he is “just out of Russia’s book.” According to a previous survey by the Ministry of Enterprise and the Committee on Equality and Human Rights, less than 1% of women who are subject to maternity discrimination seek redress in court. The government has pledged to extend the rules from three months to six months after a woman returns to work to help address discrimination for longer. “I want to see women protected from dismissal” after maternity leave However, Conservative MP and former cabinet minister Maria Miller is behind a private-law bill currently in Parliament calling for stronger labor protection for young mothers and pregnant women. Image: Maria Miller drafts new legislation calling for stronger labor protection for new mothers and pregnant women He believes that there should be a broader ban on the dismissal of pregnant or young mothers in order to remove the legal burden and responsibility from women themselves. “Right now women have to go to court within three months of being fired, of discrimination. If you’re a pregnant mom, you just had a new baby, the idea of doing that – it really is not a priority.” , he said. “The government has already announced that it will increase the time to six months – but giving people more time to go to a system that does not suit them is not going to solve the problem. I want to see women protected from to be fired from the beginning “. However, ministers believe that a culture change is more likely to be accepted by employers if there is a more flexible set of requirements for an extended period of time, rather than less flexible for a shorter period of time.
