Women who take maternity leave in the U.K. have faced an increasing amount of discrimination lately.
Citizens Advice reports that over the past two years, it has seen a 58% jump in the number of consultation requests on the issue. And get this: Over the past year, the British charity says there’s been a 100% rise in the number of visits to the pregnancy discrimination advice pages on its website. Women tell the organization that when they return to work after having a child, they often face reduced hours, a changed role, or even termination.
The issue has been in the news lately. The Guardian recently reported that female employees of sporting goods retailer Sports Direct were forced to accept contracts that cut them off from getting a bonus when they came back from maternity leave. And in the U.S., a jury just awarded an employee of Chipotle $550,000 in compensation and damages in a pregnancy discrimination suit.
Penalizing a woman for being pregnant or taking time off to have and care for a child or other family member is not just bad PR. It’s bad business.