Employers ‘sacking pregnant women’

THOUSANDS of mothers-to-be and new mothers are being unlawfully discriminated against by employers.

Trades union body Congress will today highlight the substantial number of job dismissal cases involving pregnant women.

Almost 3,000 queries in relation to gender discrimination were handled by the Equality Authority over the last three years.

The dominant and persistent feature of the complaints was pregnancy-related issues.

Congress is organising a special briefing today to highlight the problem. Equality Authority statistics show that pregnancy-related discrimination accounts for one-in-ten complaints to the Equality Authority.

“In terms of complaints received by the Equality Authority, this form of discrimination is the single biggest issue,” said Congress assistant general secretary Joan Carmichael.

Today’s briefing, she said, will be used to convey a stern warning to employers that such discrimination was unlawful.

“Women continue to be dismissed from their jobs due to pregnancy despite legislation being in place since 1977,” said Ms Carmichael.

Equality Authority figures point to small- to medium-sized enterprises and non-unionised businesses being the biggest culprits.

Equality Authority chief executive Niall Crowley said 33% of the 489 gender discrimination complaints received last year, together with 795 cases under the Equality Status Act, were pregnancy-related issues.