‘It is vital that the information be full but easily accessible and easy to understand.’
This is from a May 2019 response from the Women and Equalities Select Committee (pdf) to the Government consultation on extending redundancy protection for women and new parents. The Committee welcomes the proposals to provide an additional period of protection against redundancy for new mothers and other groups, but believes that they must go further and address the enforcement of existing and new rights.
The Committee’s responses to individual sections of the consultation include:
- Supporting an extension to the protections against redundancy during pregnancy and maternity leave, for a period of six months following their return to work.
- Strong agreement that any extension of protection also apply to those on adoption leave or shared parental leave.
- An invitation to the Government to go further in insuring that this information is accessible, by setting up a single comprehensive website for employers and individuals, and working with frontline health services to provide basic advice to new parents and signpost them to further resources.
- A recommendation that large companies should be required to report on retention rates for women 12 months after returning from maternity leave and 12 months after lodging an application for flexible working.
