TUC wants employers to do more for mothers returning to work
1 December 2014
In response to new research about parents returning to work after childbirth, the TUC are calling for employers to improve the support they give to mothers coming back to work.
Responding to research published by the National Childbirth Trust – on parents’ experiences of returning to work after the birth of a child – the TUC General Secretary Frances O’Grady said: “This new research shows that employers need to do more to ensure that, when their female employees go back to work after their maternity leave is over, their return is as straightforward and as stress-free as possible.”
You can see the full TUC press release here.
TUC says employers are ‘stuck in a time warp’
3 December 2014
Thousands of new mothers are still being “shunned” by employers despite increased legal protection and new flexible working legislation, according to a report.
The TUC said that although the number of tribunal complaints involving pregnant women increased by a fifth during the recession, with more than 9,000 women taking their employers to tribunal, this is merely the “tip of the iceberg”. The report, The Pregnancy Test: Ending Discrimination at Work for New Mothers , said that many more new mothers could be facing discrimination but the process of taking an employer to tribunal was too expensive since the introduction of fees in 2013.
“It’s enough to put many women off, especially those on statutory maternity pay of just £138 a week,” the TUC said.
According to the report, six in 10 working mums with children either at nursery or primary school work part-time, which can mean a serious drop in earnings when they return to work.
Health and Safety Executive releases annual data on workplace dangers
8 December 2014
The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) has released their annual statistics report for Great Britain that highlights the dangers to employees in the nation's workplaces, including illnesses contracted, injuries sustained, the working days that are lost and the economic cost to the UK. According to the report , over 1.2 million people were suffering with some form of illness during the last year, with just over half a million of those employees developing a new ailment during that time. Around 184,000 (34percent) of these newly-acquired illnesses were musculoskeletal in nature, while almost 46percent were related to stress, depression or anxiety. The HSE study also confirms that employees suffer more fatal accidents in construction, agriculture or waste and recycling industries than in others. Non-fatal injuries were also reported. Slips and trips were the most common kind of accident (28%), followed by those incurred while handling, lifting or carrying (24%), while another 10% were due to being hit by moving objects.
CIPP Policy News Journal
08/04/2015, Page 78 of 521
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