The Equality and Human Rights Commission has joined forces launched Working Forward in September 2016, a new national initiative to support pregnant women and new mothers in the workplace.
Major household names, including Barclays, Royal Mail and BT Group, are leading the coalition of businesses, which aims to inspire other organisations to better support pregnant women and new mothers in the workplace.
Joining the initiative is free and open to any organisation, large or small. Organisations and businesses that join will benefit from invitations to exclusive events, access to information and training, and the opportunity to network with like-minded organisations.
The members will help drive long-term positive change through actions such as nominating a gender equality champion at board level, training and supporting line managers, and promoting family-friendly policies, including advertising all jobs as open to flexible working where appropriate.
Working Forward follows the EHRC’s recent research, carried out in conjunction with the former Department for Business, Innovation and Skills. The findings highlighted that, while the majority of employers say they are firm supporters of female staff during and after pregnancy and find it easy to comply with the law, three in four (77%) mothers say they have had a negative or possibly discriminatory experience at work.
