Following a campaign by the Liberal Democrats, suggesting that employers with over 250 employees be obliged to share their parental leave policies, ten major employers (including Deloitte and RBS) have agreed to publish their parental leave and pay policies.
The research cited to support this campaign included a survey by the Equalities and Human Rights Commission, which concluded that as many as 54,000 women a year lose their jobs due to either pregnancy or maternity discrimination. This survey also found that 36% of private sector employers felt it was reasonable to ask women during recruitment whether they plan to have children in the future, and 41% of employers felt that pregnancy in the workplace placed “an unnecessary cost burden” on the company.
It is argued that publishing this information is a good thing for employers, giving them the opportunity to show their commitment to gender equality. It is further hoped that publication of these figures will encourage competition between employers to provide better parental benefits, in order to attract and retain high-quality staff.