New figures released found there is no real difference between the attitudes of male and female business leaders when it comes to female discrimination in the workplace*.
A quarter of male business leaders and 21 per cent of female business leaders admit to rejecting female candidates for jobs who ‘appear’ to be of maternity age, even though they are the right person for the role.
The statistics further reveal the shocking extent to which businesses are breaking employment law to discriminate against women. Forty-four per cent of business leaders said they had passed up on female candidates who were not pregnant, but were concerned these women were likely to get pregnant in the future.
The results breakdown as follows: Twenty-three per cent said they rejected women even though they were the right candidate for the job; 21 per cent said they had rejected female candidates because their business couldn’t handle the prospect of women coming in and out of maternity leave; An additional eight per cent admitted to openly asking female candidates if they plan to have any children in the future
Under current employment law in the UK, it is against the law to treat someone less favourably than someone else because of a personal characteristic such as religion, sex, gender reassignment or age. It is also illegal to ask candidates whether they have children or plan to have children.
Twenty-one per cent of male and female business leaders said they had rejected female candidates because their business couldn’t handle the prospect of women coming in and out of maternity leave; 10 per cent of male business leaders said they openly asked female candidates about their plans to have children, compared to five per cent of female business leaders.
Mathias Linnemann, CCO and co-founder of Worksome, said,
This research provides crucial insight into employer perspectives. We are disheartened to see that such outdated and inaccurate opinions are still held by business leaders in the UK. This behaviour is harmful to all women in the workforce: even those who may have no interest in ever having children are facing prejudice and discrimination due to their gender.
Not only are businesses breaking the law, but they are putting themselves at a disadvantage. With the proper support, negotiating maternity leave needn’t be a challenge. Businesses should feel able to hire the best candidate, regardless of who they are, and not worry that they are going to be ‘caught out’ by maternity leave at a later date.
*By Worksome
Interested in diversity in the workplace? We recommend the Diversity and Inclusion Conference 2019.
