Two Thirds of Bosses ‘Don’t Expect’ Female Employees to Return After Maternity Leave

Aug. 19, 2011 - PRLog -- New research from an online independent HR Consultancy, http://www.Reabur.com has found that almost two thirds, 64%, of employers do not expect female employees to return to work after their maternity leave; of which the majority, 47%, say they believe this because of ‘previous experience.’  

The study, conducted by http://www.Reabur.com,  was conducted following the news from Mel Stride, Conservative MP for Central Devon, who recently questioned the rules that allowed staff from companies employing 10 or fewer people to take up to 52 weeks off. 1,926 employers were subsequently polled in a bid to discover their opinions.

According to the research from http://www.Reabur.com, the majority, 64% simply didn’t expect any female employee to return to work following their allocated maternity leave, regardless of her position or role within the company.  

The respondents were asked by http://www.Reabur.com if they had a ‘return to work policy’ in place for mothers returning from maternity leave, to which two fifths, 41%, said ‘Yes’.  These respondents were then asked if the policy offered the employee part time working hours, to which more than three quarters, 76%, stated that it did.

When asked by http://www.Reabur.com ‘When a member of your staff embark on their maternity leave, do you want them to return to work following their allocated time off?’ 16% answered ‘No’. These respondents were then asked to explain their decision, to which 38% said it was because they believed that the employee would have a ‘reduced level of concentration’ once they returned to work.

Furthermore, 23% of the respondents who stated that they didn’t want the employee to return after maternity leave claimed that it was because they would ‘lack enthusiasm,’ when compared to a newly hired member of staff.

According to the research from http://www.Reabur.com female employers were more expectant of their staff to return to work after maternity leave, composing just 18% of the respondents who stated that they don’t expect their employee to return to work after maternity leave.

Kirsty Burgess, Co-Managing Director of http://www.Reabur.com, said the following on the findings:

“It is interesting to see that even though an employee may say that she wants to return to work after having a baby, employers don’t necessarily believe her. Having a child needn’t change women’s career choices at all, and employers shouldn’t necessarily expect a member of staff not to return. Although many women do indeed decide to take further time off, this is in no way the norm, especially with the rising cost of childcare it has become more essential for women to return to work. This is a personal decision for an individual to make, and employers need to be really careful about making assumptions- if that message gets back to the employee they could find themselves defending a discrimination claim”

She continued:

“It was a relief to see that so many employers have a return to work policy in place, as, in many cases, women have been out of the working environment for almost a year. These policies are great as they allow both the employer and employee to be prepared and aware of their rights throughout the maternity leave process. To those respondents who said that they didn’t want staff to return from maternity leave, I think this is a very short sighted approach, they should consider the amount of time and cost involved in recruitment, and training new staff not to mention the loss of tacit knowledge.”

LINK: http://www.Reabur.com

ENDS

For further information on www.Reabur.com, or to arrange an interview with Kirsty Burgess or Kirsty Burgess, please contact Charlotte Horsfall of 10 Yetis Public Relations Agency on charlotte@10yetis.co.uk.  

Editor’s Notes

Reabur are a team of chartered Human Resource professionals and accredited mediators, the core values if the business is taking on the 'people' challenges within a business.

Reabur provide the Human Resources function for both small and large businesses. The consultancy specialise in:

•   Advise what companies can do to enhance the business through the employees, thus providing a platform to increase profits.

•   Provide options on how to tackle performance, sickness and conduct within the workplace, therefore improving productivity.

•   Educate businesses with regards to employment law.

•   Resolve workplace conflict through tried and tested methods of mediation