IT WAS heartening to see Caroline Lucas lead a cross party group to take urgent action to tackle maternity and pregnancy discrimination in the workplace.
The leader of the Green Party is calling for new mothers and pregnant women to be better protected, tabling an Early Day Motion (EDM) to draw attention to the issue. The EDM tabled by Ms Lucas calls on the government to increase the time limit for pregnancy and maternity discrimination claims to six months.
A government commissioned survey found the equivalent of 54,000 women nationally, being forced out of work each year; with fewer than one per cent of these women bringing an employment tribunal claims against their employer for, mainly due to the short time to bring a tribunal and also the cost of £1,200 tribunal fee that was introduced in 2013.
The current rules are clearly not working. This is affecting pregnant women and new mothers in work across all industries.
Samantha George
Westrip
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