The requirements for employers to allow maternity leave under United Essay - 1

The requirements for employers to allow maternity leave under United Kingdom law is a disadvantage to women in the workplace. Discuss this statement - Essay Example This legislation simply puts off most of the employers in employing women. Research conducted in UK has indicated that most companies are quite reluctant in employing women that are of the child bearing age (Davis, 2005, p 18). Majority of the politicians have aired out their grievances stating that there is need to amend the family legislation as well as the optional maternity leave because it has proven to be a disadvantage for most women in the workplace. Women who do ordinary jobs tend to fair badly when they take up the sole option of maternity leave. As soon as they resume their jobs it is quite difficult for them to catch up with their lost earnings owing to the fact that they don’t get any pension rights while on maternity leave (Bunkham, 2013). Reports on pregnancy discrimination have indicated that most women in UK experience discrimination at their work simply for the fact of being pregnant or taking up a maternity leave. Some women have also complained of being thrown out of their jobs. Despite the fact that women have been given the rights at work regarding things like extension of their statutory maternity leave as well as pay, paid time off in order to attend doctors’ appointments and the right to get flexible working hours there is a great challenge emerging from pregnancy discrimination. A lot needs to be done by the government in ensuring that women can be able to resume their careers and work duties without any discrimination and restrictions (Sargeant & Lewis, 2005, p 19). Most employers tend to illegally discriminate their women employees as soon as they get pregnant and they are usually made redundant when on maternity leave. Maternity leave therefore, tends to damage women careers, owing to the fact that as soon as their back to work a lot of events and duties have passed them. During maternity leave, most women are not able to gain experience in their line of duty and this is a common setback for those who want to