By

Gaby Grammeno

Contributor

Pregnancy and parenthood can expose workers to ‘vast discrimination, disadvantage, and bias’, according to a new report calling for an overhaul in Australian workplace culture that goes well beyond parental leave improvements.

The National Review: Work Conditions and Discrimination among Pregnant & Parent Workers in Australia – Evidence and Insights was undertaken by the University of South Australia’s Psychosocial Safety Climate Global Observatory, Centre for Workplace Excellence, Justice and Society. The aim was to explore the main issues that pregnant and parent workers experience at work, to give workers an opportunity to voice their concerns and to put forward new recommendations.

Workers with children and those who are pregnant represent a substantial and growing proportion of the workforce. The report’s authors and contributors recognised that workers with pregnancy- and child-related issues to deal with as well as their work responsibilities can face difficulties in reconciling conflicting demands and priorities as well as negative workplace attitudes and reactions, but despite the wealth of anecdotal evidence there has been little recent large-scale research into the scope and impact of any disadvantage or discrimination this segment of the workforce may experience.

The review documented the perceptions of respondents to a survey that collected data from 1048 pregnant and parent Australian workers with a child under 10. Both primary and secondary caregivers were able to participate.

Findings

The survey was designed to explore respondents’ perceptions of the full range of discriminatory behaviours, including working conditions, offensive remarks and employment changes. Discrimination and negative act questions were framed to elicit data on disadvantage or discrimination the respondents attributed to pregnancy, parental leave or return to work as a parent, rather than outcomes attributable to other causes.

Those reporting the highest levels of discrimination were respondents who’d returned to work following parental leave within the last 10 years (91.8%), followed by pregnant workers (89%) and then those on parental leave (84.7%).

Six out of ten workers returning to work after parental leave reported that they were still expected to meet deadlines if they or their child were sick, and almost half said they had fewer opportunities for career advancement, were not given information about their return-to-work entitlements or received negative or offensive remarks about requiring flexible working hours.

During parental leave, around half were not told about workplace changes that could affect them, missed out on significant workplace communications and opportunities for training or promotion.

Two thirds of the pregnant respondents reported that their workloads were not manageable for them and around half felt they were given unreasonable deadlines or that their opinions were ignored. More than a third felt disadvantaged in other ways, for example, having information they needed withheld from them, being subject to excessive monitoring, or having key areas of responsibility removed or replaced with more trivial or unpleasant tasks.

Almost a third of the pregnant respondents reported that they did not receive information about leave entitlements, and around a quarter felt they needed to hide their changing body. More than one in five had work tasks changed without consultation.

About one in six respondents reported negative or offensive remarks about their pregnancy from management or their peers, or felt they had been obliged to work in conditions that were not safe for them. Smaller proportions indicated they had not been granted leave for medical appointments for pregnancy or pregnancy-related illness, or even that they had been treated so badly they felt they had to leave.

The findings highlight the extensive nature of perceived work-related discrimination, disadvantage, and bias for pregnant and parent workers in Australia. They paint a disturbing picture of inappropriate workload allocation and poor social treatment.

While legislation exists to protect pregnant (and to a lesser extent, parent) workers, the review indicated that the reality in workplaces too often falls short of the standards of equity and fairness the legislation aims to provide.

Recommendations  

On a practical, workplace level, the review calls for employers to ensure consultation and regular communication with workers affected by parenthood issues, appropriate space for breastfeeding or expressing milk if needed, an inclusive workplace culture that does not tolerate disrespect, equity in training and career progression opportunities and flexible work arrangements, including ergonomic adjustments to minimise the risk of harm, as appropriate.

The authors also propose more monitoring of employers to ensure they’re complying with legal requirements, an annual review to track changes, public campaigns outlining what constitutes discriminatory actions or inadequate work conditions and the establishment of a public-facing Fair Work Ombudsman focusing specifically on pregnant and parent workers.

Read the review

National Review: Work Conditions and Discrimination among Pregnant & Parent Workers in Australia – Evidence and Insights