Pregnant Then Screwed launches new free advice service for women with maternity discrimination

Pregnant Then Screwed the unique website that gives disappointed and disillusioned employees an outlet to post their story without revealing their identity has launched a new free advice service for pregnant women and mothers at work experiencing issues with maternity rights, employment rights when pregnant, maternity leave, maternity pay, pregnancy discrimination or being fired for being pregnant.

About 54,000 women each year are left without jobs due to pregnancy. This figure does not include females who are demoted, harassed, aren’t put forward for promotion, or those that are self employed. Founder, Joeli Brearley said “Pregnant Then Screwed is a safe place for you to tell your story anonymously, so that we can make a case for recognition, respect and change”.

In addition to this amazing service, the company is campaigning for a number of changes to the law that will help reduce discrimination and create a more level playing field for both Mums and Dads who have careers in industry.

Paternity leave of six weeks on 90% of pay

Currently only mothers receive this. Pregnant Then Screwed believe that if both parents had equal parental leave and pay this would mean fathers spent more time with their children which would have a positive impact on everyone. It would also mean that both men and women will potentially take leave from their jobs, thus stopping discrimination towards women alone. Increasing the amount of paternity leave and reducing the barriers to taking that leave will start to create the cultural and societal shift we so desperately need for child care to be seen as a parental challenge rather than a mother’s challenge. They propose the 6 weeks will be in addition to 2 weeks already offered. To ensure we maximise this opportunity, they propose the paternity leave should be compulsory (i.e it cannot be transferred to the mother or another relative) and must be taken once the mother has returned to work.

Increasing the amount of time you have to take a case of pregnancy or maternity discrimination to Tribunal from 3 months to 6 months

If you are a victim of discrimination you will find that to tackle this through legal proceedings you have only 3 months less one day from the point of discrimination. This inevitably comes at a time with your new young baby when you are exhausted and vulnerable and are focused on caring for your new child. Either you are pregnant and therefore a Tribunal risks the health of the mother and unborn child through stress or you have just had a baby, in which case you are simply surviving from day-to-day, and preparing for a Tribunal would be too hard and this is the reason why less than 1% of discrimination cases actually go to Tribunal.

Flexible working options to be stated on job adverts

Once you have had a child you discover that it is often almost impossible to manage working full time alongside caring for your child. Most people are reluctant to place their baby in full time child care and therefore they need part time jobs or other flexible options such as working from home outside of office hours. Part time jobs are very hard to find and usually pay a lot less than full time. Many employers are also very reluctant to be flexible once an employee returns to work, ultimately causing high levels of stress for the parent or ultimately resulting in them leaving their jobs. If flexible working options were outlined on job adverts in a much more overt manner there would be more opportunities for working parents everywhere.

Improved legislation for those who are self employed and are on temporary contracts

With more and more people in roles with temporary contracts or being self employed, it is really important to improve support and legislation to protect women in these roles if they become pregnant. Currently the law is unclear in this area so many employers feel comfortable with terminating contracts at the point of pregnancy.

If you would like to support this campaign, please complete the form to sign the petition.

If you need free legal advice for an incident to do with maternity related discrimination then call: 0161 930 5300 or email on or email at Advice@pregnantthenscrewed.com