Analysis provided by Soraya Pascoe, Legal Expert on Gender.

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Employment legislation in the United Kingdom is highly developed and anti discrimination law is largely found in the Sex Discrimination Act (1975), Equal Pay Act (1970) and the Employment Rights Act (1996).

The Sex Discrimination Act governs discrimination broadly in the United Kingdom. Discrimination in this statute covers discrimination whether direct or indirect, based on gender and marital status. Its employment provisions are governed by Section 6. There is also provision for positive discrimination in trying to obtain a de facto equality between men and women. The exceptions in Section 7 are extremely comprehensive and include provision for when the place of employment would be in a country where women are not permitted to work in a given occupation or venue.

The Equal Pay Act has been interpreted to include direct as well as some indirect discrimination in paying employees equally regardless of gender for similar work. It also covers workers under contracts for specific work. (Usually short term contracts).

The Employment Rights Act governs provisions for pregnant employees. It allows for suspension of work for pregnant women or where a woman has recently given birth or is breast-feeding a child. This suspension needs to be on health or safety grounds where alternative work was not available. A woman so suspended is entitled to her salary during this period.

Dismissal on the grounds of pregnancy or refusal to allow a woman to return to work after maternity leave is automatically unfair.

This statute also specifically sets out maternity leave rights which allows a woman to benefit from all the terms and conditions of her employment (notably pay), during the statutory 14 weeks, which can be extended if child birth is later than expected.

The Paternity Leave and Adoption Leave Regulations (2002) have also been added by the way of statutory instrument to harmonise parental rights in line with the maternity rights as above.

The United Kingdom is also subject to the Equal Treatment Directive (76/207/EEC) in respect of employment.

A major obstacle to equal treatment in employment for women is the ability to work part time in order to cater for the needs of their children. Importantly, discrimination in pay and rights for part time workers has been legislated against by the introduction of the Part Time Workers (Prevention of Less Favourable Treatment) Regulations 2000. This Statutory Instrument enables part time workers to be paid on an equal basis pro rata with full time workers and to be afforded the same rights and remedies for unfair dismissal.

While traditionally women are considered to be the most likely candidates for part time work, a significant case was brought whereby a male worker successfully settled a claim with his employers for not allowing him to reduce his hours in order to look after his child. (Robert Jones v Gan Insurance 2000). However the most important provision for women enabling them to work, that being adequate childcare provision, largely remains unacted in the United Kingdom and is mostly dependent on individual employers.

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