Pregnant women will continue to get a raw deal at work and even face the sack in some cases, unless the Government acts to give more support to families and employers and improve awareness of the law Julie Mellor, Chair of the EOC, said on September 6, 2004. Julie Mellor was commenting on the publication of the Equal Opportunities Commission's (EOC) major new report into pregnancy discrimination in the workplace, published today to mark the start of National Pregnancy Week.

Some facts from the report:

• 350,000 working women in Great Britain become pregnant in the course of each year. Businesses with fewer than 10 employees are likely to have a pregnant employee only one year in ten and those with fewer than 25 employees, one year in five.
• Employers feel confident about managing pregnancy but more than a quarter cannot cite, without prompting, a single statutory entitlement for pregnant women.
• Figures from USDAW have suggested that less than one in three pregnant women receive a health and safety risk assessment from their employer, even though this is a statutory requirement.
• Nearly one quarter of women who made an employment tribunal claim were dismissed within hours or days of telling their employer they were pregnant.
• One in five women who returned to work for the same employer after maternity leave returned to a lower grade or level of job.
• More than one third of employers felt that pregnancy was "an undue cost burden on the organisation". Some employers are unaware of their right to reclaim Statutory Maternity Pay.
• 80% of women return to work within 17 months of childbirth but only 47% return to the same job at the same employer. Some employers achieve rates of return of over 90%.

Read more:

• Equal Opportunities Commission website
• Tip of the iceberg, EOC interim report
• Pregnancy discrimination at work, a review