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Community support legislation for new mothers

To show continued support for new and expectant mothers, Community are backing the “Pregnancy & Maternity (Redundancy Protection) Bill”. Joining a group of other organisations including Maternity Action, Community are calling on Government to speed the Bill through Parliament on immediate return from recess in September.

The Bill calls for a comprehensive legal ban on redundancy, from notification of pregnancy to six months after the woman’s return to work. The union says this would provide clarity to employers on their legal obligations, and provide much stronger preventative protection against unfair redundancy.

Lauren Crowley, Head of Equalities at Community said:

“It is vital that the Government act now to stop the effects of this pandemic from disproportionately affecting new mothers and pregnant women. The Autumn is simply too long to wait for these women who will, at a pivotal time in their lives, have faced undue uncertainty since March. That’s why we’re calling for the Government to push this Bill through Parliament as a matter of urgency as soon as Members of Parliament return from recess at the beginning of September.”

“In 2020 nobody should be penalised for choosing to have children, yet this crisis has put new mothers at increased risk of redundancy and hardship. We cannot as a county allow this pandemic to further widen inequality and discrimination against an already vulnerable group. Community will continue to work with partner organisations and cross-Party in the interests of women.”

For more detail, see Maternity Action’s new briefing here. 

Community has been lobbying on behalf of women workers throughout the coronavirus pandemic. You can read about the sex discrimination legal case against the Chancellor which we supported here.