SURVEY
Things that go bump in the first few months
By Earl Street - 1/Oct/2008
In early 2008 Natasha Kaplinsky, the ex-BBC newsreader, reportedly signed a ground breaking three year contract, worth £1 million for the first year alone to switch to competitors Five.
Less than two months after signing the contract Kaplinksy, 35, announced she was three months pregnant, and expecting her first child.
A recent survey has found that before employing an individual more than 50% of bosses take into account the chances of a new member of staff falling pregnant. A further 76% of bosses stated they wouldn’t hire a new employee if they believed they were going to fall pregnant within six months of their start date.
All managers must remember that not hiring a women on this basis is discrimination, no matter what way it is dressed up!
If an interviewer asks a candidate at interview about their intentions to raise a family it will be difficult to prove this had no effect on their decision not to offer a job and will leave them open to a discrimination claim. So however preferable it may be for business reasons to know if a candidate is pregnant the advice must be DO NOT ASK! If a candidate is asked they should not lie but they are not under an obligation to answer such a question and should ask why this is relevant.
Failing this - should your company find themselves in need of any temporary or maternity cover, get in touch with Earl Street!
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