Calls for code of practice to combat workplace discrimination against pregnant women, working parents

MARK COLVIN: There are calls for changes to workplace policies to combat discrimination against pregnant women and working parents.

The call for a new code of practice follows a report by the Human Rights Commission.

It gave examples of women losing their jobs through sham redundancies when they tried to return to work after having children.

It even said some pregnant women had been forced to choose between keeping the baby and keeping the job.

Emily Bourke reports.

EMILY BOURKE: Fifteen years after the Human Rights Commission conducted the first inquiry into discrimination against pregnant women, the evidence is little has changed.

The sex discrimination commissioner Elizabeth Broderick says discrimination ranges from covert and casual through to the blatant and unlawful.

ELIZABETH BRODERICK: I was told by one woman, “At the end of it all I was left with no job, on the brink of losing my home, dealing with a miscarriage, I lost all my friends at work and I was left just utterly broken”.

EMILY BOURKE: But very few women make a formal complaint.

ELIZABETH BRODERICK: Nine per cent of those who experience discrimination, that’s less than the complaints for sexual harassment and many other things. So it’s a deeply hidden issue and part of that is a fear of victimisation, if I speak out, I will also be seen as a trouble maker.

EMILY BOURKE: Were there pockets or industries where this was more prevalent?

ELIZABETH BRODERICK: The data now shows that it’s more prevalent in male-dominated industries, and also interestingly and I found this very surprising, is that it’s more prevalent in larger organisations than small. That says to me look you can have the best policies and programs in the world, you can have a big HR department or whatever, but if the policies are not being implemented properly on the ground, discrimination can still occur.

EMILY BOURKE: Why does this persist? If we have laws, we have workplace regulations, are they not robust enough?

ELIZABETH BRODERICK: Why it happens is because there is a gap between what the law says and the implementation in organisations. The other reason is that we still live in a country where there are strong social norms about who works and who cares.

And in a sense, as one woman said to me, she said “When I told my manager about my pregnancy, I felt I am going to be a bad mother and I am a bad employee”. And actually, she speaks to the deeply held social norms that we have in Australia, one of which is that the ideal mother is always with their children, always available. And the ideal worker, similarly, they work 24-7, no visible caring responsibilities.

EMILY BOURKE: The launch of the national review today was a rare sight, with unions and industry sitting side by side.

GED KEARNEY: There is absolutely no point in having excellent paid parental leave schemes or even child care services if working parents are being discriminated against or forced out of their jobs.

EMILY BOURKE: Ged Kearney is from the ACTU (Australian Council of Trade Unions).

GED KEARNEY: Now the fact that one-third of mothers and one-quarter of partners were either resigned from their job or looked for other work, highlights the unacceptable cost of the discrimination on women, their families, on our economy.

EMILY BOURKE: Innes Willox, from the Australian Industry Group, says Australia’s maternal employment rate of 62 per cent trails behind many other countries, and it hasn’t changed in 20 years.

INNES WILLOX: More and more dads are involved in caring for their children, either as single parents or because their partner has returned to work or simply because they want to be more involved in the day to day upbringing of their child. If mothers are to achieve equality, fathers will need to take on more caring responsibilities and workplace flexibility has an important role to play here.

EMILY BOURKE: But the prevalence of discrimination has Elizabeth Broderick calling for reform.

ELIZABETH BRODERICK: One of which would be a strengthening of the Sex Discrimination Act in relation to protection for individual with family responsibilities.

In the work health and safety area; the development of materials for employers on the requirements of pregnant women, on IVF and miscarriage, to be developed by Safe Work Australia.

And clarifying the provisions under the National Employment Standards (NES) of the Fair Work Act, to ensure that employees can use their personal leave for pre-natal and IVF appointments and that they are allowed breaks for breastfeeding.

So some work to be done there.

EMILY BOURKE: The Federal Government has committed $150,000 to help fund resource kits for workers and employers to help inform them of their rights and obligations around pregnancy and parenting in the workplace.

© abc.net.au Emily Bourke

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