Could maternity leave law discourage bosses from hiring women?

Friday 25 July 2014

Jersey may finally have started coming into line with the rest of the world on maternity leave, but one employment specialist says that the new law may push bosses to avoid hiring women.

Last week the States agreed a proposition by outgoing Social Security Minister Francis Le Gresley to set up paid maternity leave – women will now get up to 18 weeks’ leave, with the employers paying for two weeks.

Although some bosses already offered two paid weeks off, there was no requirement in law for them to do it. That led to a strange situation where Islanders working for UK companies were sometimes better off, because some followed group HR policies in line with more generous UK legislation.

Heidi Gibaut, executive director of leading employment relations specialists Law At Work, said that the move would be welcomed by employees who wanted to start a family, but would add to costs for businesses.

She said: “Among employers’ concerns, the main issues are around the cost to their business and this can certainly pose a risk to many.

“Employers will have to fund the costs associated with recruiting cover for the 18 week period of leave plus handover time, the two weeks pay in addition to holiday pay and the option to offer flexible working hours isn’t as straightforward for many.

“We will be working with our clients to ensure that they are prepared for the new laws when they come in next year in particular ensuring that policies and procedure are up to date and what the implications of not conforming to the new law will mean to business.

“Furthermore, I can see this new law encouraging some employers to overlook female staff because of the risk that they will require maternity leave and in order to avoid the potential cost to their businesses.”

When politicians approved the law, they rejected a proposition by Reform Jersey Deputy Geoff Southern to have the States pay for 26 weeks of maternity leave.

Instead, they approved a proposition to allow two weeks of paid leave for mothers and six weeks of unpaid leave for new employees.