ONE in four (26 per cent) pregnant women feel hesitant to share the pregnancy news with colleagues and bosses due to the fear of being stigmatised, according to a new study.
Culture Shift (an active reporting platform to identify and prevent harassment and bullying) conducted the study and it also shows that this increased to nearly half (46 per cent) for individuals who had been employed for less than six months at the time of conception.
From 2020 to 2021, discrimination based on pregnancy and motherhood was the fifth most frequent allegation.
The following topics made up the majority of the allegation:
Even though there are regulations in the UK to safeguard employees who are pregnant, research shows that maternity discrimination is nevertheless common there.
Gemma McCall, the co-founder and CEO of Culture Shift, said: “Society assumes all women will become mothers- and yet, we don’t like it when they get pregnant, and we employ them.
“All of a sudden, this societal expectation we’ve been pushing onto them since birth becomes an inconvenience and so, it’s no surprise that 1 in 4 expectant mothers hide their pregnancy.”
In the UK, there exist regulations that safeguard people throughout their pregnancies to some extent.
The Protected Period is the law that is used the most frequently.
The Equality Act of 2010 governs the Protected Period. The beginning and conclusion of a woman’s pregnancy are included in this time frame.
The protected period will begin at the conclusion of the additional maternity leave term (if she is entitled to both ordinary and additional maternity leave) or (if sooner) when the woman returns to work after giving birth.
A common trend against pregnant people is shown by the comments and study, and that is the fact that pregnancy discrimination is widespread across numerous industries and enterprises.
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