Women are Unemployable

There are 4.8 million enterprises in the UK. 4.3 million of them employ less than 4 staff. Problem is, few if any of the 4.3 million owner-managers who run these companies posses either the knowledge or the skill to properly comply with the mysteries of employment legislation, particularly the procedural complexities related to maternity, discrimination and compensation. Nor can they afford to employ Human Relations experts who do. Which explains why procedural errors made by managers account for 90% of all claims that end up at Employment Tribunals

There’s nothing sexist about these people, they’re just scared stiff to employ women. Accepting less money to secure a job is the price women now have to pay to compensate for all the rights, privileges, risks, trouble, worry, inconvenience and additional outlay companies have to factor in when assessing the true cost of employing them.

Women’s rights activists just didn’t know when to stop. Truth is, the majority of decent hardworking women are more than capable of competing on a level playing field with men. Unfortunately, they’ve been denied a level playing field by feminist extremists who have laboured mightily to ensure anybody anticipating employing a women knows that women are legally entitled to many and varied rights and privileges not available by men:-

They can demand to be reinstated in their original position after having been on maternity leave for twelve months. If their employer, with good reason, is unable to offer them the same job they’re entitled to demand an acceptable alternative at the same terms and conditions as their previous job. If their employer is unable to meet this condition they can claim unfair dismissal. If they return to work but don’t get their old job back they can invoke grievance procedures that could result in a sex discrimination or detrimental treatment claim – or they can resign and make a claim for constructive dismissal.

They can demand a year’s maternity leave even if they announce they’re pregnant on the first day of a new job.

They can demand, if they become pregnant, their employer conducts risk assessments related to their work and remove all risks (standing or sitting for long periods, lifting or carrying heavy loads or working long hours might be considered a risk). If employers are unable to remove the risk or offer suitable alternative work they should suspend the woman from work on full pay.

They can demand time off on full pay to attend medical examinations, relaxation and parent craft classes. Women undergoing IVF treatment will similarly be entitled to time off on full pay after the fertilized embryo has been implanted.

They can demand full maternity benefits if their child is stillborn after 24 weeks of pregnancy.

They can demand full maternity benefits if their child is born alive at any time of the pregnancy but subsequently dies.

They can demand full statutory annual leave of 4.8 weeks whilst on maternity leave which can be taken before or after their maternity leave.

They can demand to receive, whilst on maternity leave, all contractual benefits they would normally receive if they were still working: gym memberships, use of company car etc.

They can demand a repeat of all the same rights if they become pregnant again whilst on maternity leave. Their subsequent period of maternity leave can commence as soon as the current one ends.

They can demand to change their mind about the time they intend to start and finish their maternity leave.

They can demand, when they return to work, their employer seriously considers any request they make to change to a flexible working pattern. Employers are expected to comply and to provide written evidence that such requests have been very seriously considered.

They can demand their employer makes suitable breast-feeding and rest facilities available to them. (Toilets are not deemed to be suitable rest facilities).

They can demand an extra four weeks at the end of their maternity leave for parental leave without it affecting their right to return to the same job.

They can demand a total of thirteen weeks parental leave for each of their children up to their fifth birthday and a total of eighteen weeks for each disabled child up to their eighteenth birthday.

They can make a very expensive and time-consuming sex discrimination claim against any prospective employer foolish enough to ask them, during a job interview, about the impact existing or future family commitments are likely to have on their work rate, or the frequency and length of time they consider they’ll need to absent themselves from work.

They can omit to mention they have no intention of returning to work after having a child. To do so would lose them benefits.

They can unsettle and create rifts in an otherwise happy team by having their workload distributed amongst other members of the staff whilst employers spend precious time and money advertising, interviewing and training temporary or agency workers to bridge the temporary or possibly permanent gap they’ve created.

Not unnaturally, women with children and family commitments are far more likely to be tired, worried, depressed and distracted at work than men because of the many extra hours each day they have to spend tending to and worrying about their families.

Most women returning from maternity leave are welcomed back with open arms but some will find it more difficult to reintegrate. The company and the friends they used to work with might have changed. Maybe they’ve lost the will to work or have some sort of chip on their shoulder which feeds a self-fulfilling belief that they aren’t welcome. Either way, chances are they’ll blame anybody other than themselves for any problems/setbacks they might experience and be tempted to consider redressing whatever imbalance they feel to exist by plucking one or more of the juicy sex discrimination and compensation fruits dangling temptingly before them. One thing is for sure. They’re in the drivers seat and they know it. They know they can, at the drop of a hat, bring a small company to its knees or ruin it with outrageous sex or discrimination-based compensation claims, real or imagined.

What owner-manager in their right mind, given the opportunity to employ an equally qualified non-pregnant man, would choose to employ a woman of childbearing age who expects the same money but isn’t going to make an equal contribution.