The requirement for employers to allow maternity leave under United Kingdom law is a disadvantage to women in the workplace.

IntroductionWomen in the proceeding drive have historically struggled to be on an equal footing with men both in terms of pay and positions that they could achieve. In the U.K, where women argon the majority population (51%) (ONS 2011), efforts to bottomup pop offplace disagreement and to provide equal opportunities have become underlying issues for political form _or_ system of government debates. Maternity laws exist to improve the health of immature babies and the mother and at the same time minimize the inconvenience of doing mothers time they are at such an important stage of their lives. The 2010 compare act has provided the licit frame lick to end workplace disparity and specifically breedes agnate quality discrimination. The Marmot review in 2010 that assessed the well-disposed determinants of health in the U.K has underscored rise up paid maternal quality and paternity intrust as important for peasant and maternal health (Ward 2011). while government indemnity provides for maternity lend and benefits, availing these benefits have often disadvantaged women at the workplace. This paper will address issues surrounding maternity leave and its implications for women in the workplace.Maternity BenefitsLate stages of motherliness and postnatal disquiet are important periods in the life of a woman and maintaining a healthy mind and body during these stages is critical for the bollockss health. Maternity leave and the maternity benefits are clearly social policies that help working women strike a balance between work and their parental role. Current policy consent tos women to cod up to a family off from work to take consider of their newly born. The regulations alike permit women to return to their same jobs if they chose to within 26 weeks (The Telegraph 2014). The policy also permits women to request their employees for flexible working hours once they return to work. However, one of the stipulations is that women should ta ke maternal leave in one block and are non allowed to break and manage their leave. These provision are certainly essential from a social policy point of view as the Marmot review points to unshakable dogmatic association between paid maternal leave and amend child health outcome (Ward 2001). The benefits of such policies lies in the health forward motion and the potential savings on the NHS child healthcare costs (Ward 2011).While the benefits of maternal leave can non be disputed, the current debate surrounds the continuing discrimination of women at the workplace and how maternal leave and benefits could actually contribute to advantageous treatment of men over women in the drudge market. Economic nook has also contributed to the increased discrimination against with child(predicate) women. As a upstart report from the U.K charity Working Families has pointed out, there are growing be of complaints from women just about pregnancy discrimination across the UK labor ma rket (Working Families 2009). differentiate from recent surveys in the U.K of women who availed maternity leave has only confirmed the assert discrimination against fraught(p) women. One survey equip by slater & Gordon, one of the leading law firms in the U.K, for instance, reveals that women are suffering in silence. This survey pointed out that women are made redundant while on maternity leave and that one in seven women incapacitated their jobs after availing of the leave. Among the survey participants, 40% indicated that their jobs were changed and almost half of them revealed that they were either demoted or that their working hours were cut (McVeigh 2013). As Samantha mangwana, an employment lawyer says some uncollectible organizations are part of this prevailing discrimination against pregnant women and frequently acquire in out of court settlements. I see the same major companies again and again and again, writing out these cheques accompanied, of course, with a co nfidentiality clause(McVeigh 2013).A much recent survey conducted by OnePoll on 1000 women who availed of maternity leave revealed that 30% of the women who rejoined felt that they did not fit in with their work environment any much and that to a greater extent than 40% felt that they had lack of go for and only 3% of them sought legal assistance over maternity discrimination (McVeigh 2013). These surveys clearly point to the existing trend of maternity discrimination in the workplace. An early qualitative field of operation by the Equal Opportunities guardianship reported that women on maternity leave were subjected to discrimination in several(a) ways. Some women involved in this study reported that their employees withheld salary increases and bonuses besides now because they were on maternity leave. Similarly, several women reported that their employers used the maternity leave period to create changes to their job including demoting them upon return. For instance one of the women in the study said, I went from being a regional manager to a farm animal manager and had to take a ?5,000 pay cut. While I was on maternity leave they advertised my job and gave it to a man just as they had joked they would (Davis et.al 2005). Evidence from these reports and surveys clearly project a worrisome skeleton of maternity discrimination and how availing authorized maternity leave could actually be a stumbling block for women in terms of their career prospects, promotions, pay increases and more seriously, how it could actually engender the risk of losing ones job. A more exact picture of the prevailing scenario is the fact that since 2007 there have been more than 9000 pregnancy discrimination cases against employees across the UK. Speaking of the trend, Maria Miller, the minister for Women and Equalities, said, Its unacceptable that women suffer from discrimination when they become pregnant and yet many are saying that they are treated unfairly at work because of it (DCMS, 2013). A new national research at the cost of ?1m has been commissioned to assess and to address the systemic problems that have resulted in the plight for women. It is expect that the findings from this research and further policy reforms would contribute to improving the situation for pregnant working women (DCMS 2013). However, already there is some good development from the legal policy perspective that would ease the situation for women.New Parental drop dead (More Choice)Given the existing problems and the resultant gender bias in the labor market it is clear that providing maternity leave and benefits as social wellbeing scheme , though absolutely essential from the health perspective of the new-sprung(a) and the mother, has only added to the woes of women in the job market. A new and potentially improve social care policy is the proposed departd up parental leave policy which is slated to come into effect from April 2015. Under this scheme newborn go bad care could be easily shared between the father and the mother. This new policy permits fathers to take paternal leave just as mothers could up to 50 weeks and also permits them to take the leave in a discontinued soma so that mothers and fathers can alternate in caring for the newborn baby while at the same time balance their work and family. This provides an chance for women who want to return to work a little early not to be overly concerned or stressed out about the baby care as the father could equally share the care of the newborn.ConclusionMaternity leave and maternity benefits are indispensable provisions from a pure social care perspective. These policies are in place to provide support to working women and to improve the health standards of the child and the mother. However, employers who are under pressures of poor economy are often discriminatory against pregnant women as the cost of maternity payments and the long leave of absence from work are considered to be unneces sary and avoidable costs to the company. This has resulted in women availing maternal leave to be left redundant and replaced by others. Those who return back to work are also forced to compromise their work berth and compensation resulting in poor career prospects for the woman. Though maternity benefits are government policies and legal recourse is an option against maternity discrimination, barely a small percentage of affected women take that route to justice. The government has hitherto instigated more research and has also come up with a sassy and well balanced solution to the problem with the introduction of the draft for the shared parental leave. This new provision is certainly a positive step in not only balancing the gender divide but also in avoiding discrimination against women at the workplace as it provides more options for the parents to balance their time between work and baby care.ReferencesDavis S, Neathey F, Regan J & Willison R 2005. Pregnancy discrimination at work A qualitative study, Pregnant & Productive. Working Paper Series no 23. Pub by The Institute for Employment Studies. Online available at Accessed marchland 25th 2014 DCMS 2013. ?1 million to help tackle pregnancy discrimination at the workplace, online uncommitted Accessed adjoin 25th 2014McVeigh T 2013. One in seven women are made redundant after maternity leave, online Available at Accessed March 25th 2014 ONS 2011. 2011 Census Population Estimates for the United Kingdom, Online Available at Accessed March 25th 2014The Telegraph 2014. New Parental leave Whats on offer for mums and dadsOnline Available at Accessed March 25th 2014Ward R 2011. Health and equality impacts of well-paid parental leave, Pub by WHEC and MA. Online Available at Accessed March 25th 2014Working Families 2009. Report of Working families helpline and Alliance against pregnancy discrimination in the workplace. Pregnant women and new mums at risk of redundancy. Online Available at http//www.faw cettsociety.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2013/02/PRENANCY-DISCRIMINATION-2.pdf Accessed March 25th 2014