Hostname: page-component-77c89778f8-swr86 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-07-17T16:00:08.006Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Maternity Rights in the UK: Light at the End of the Tunnel?

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 January 2023

Jill Earnshaw
Jill Earnshaw*
Affiliation:
Manchester School of Management, University of Manchester Institute of Science and Technology, United Kingdom
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Maternity rights in the UK have from the outset aroused controversy on account of their intricacy and failure to apply to all working women. This article charts the historical development of such rights and highlights in particular the influence of European Union law in widening their ambit. It also sets out the current statutory provisions and describes how case law has at the same time compounded the problems of complexity and attempted to construe the legislation in a purposive manner. The article concludes by noting recent legislative changes and assessing their potential to resolve the existing problems as well as their effect on bringing the UK into line with its European Union partners.

Type
Symposium on Parental Rights and Work/Family Balance
Information
The Economic and Labour Relations Review , Volume 10 , Issue 2 , December 1999 , pp. 169 - 187
Copyright
Copyright © The Author(s) 1999

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Daniel, W.W. (1980a), Maternity Rights: The experience of women, PSI Report No 588, Policy Studies Institute, London.Google Scholar
Daniel, W.W. (1980b), Maternity Rights: The experience of employers, PSI Report No 589, Policy Studies Institute, London.Google Scholar
Earnshaw, J.M. (1998a), ‘Maternity Leave and the Contract of Employment’ Gender, Work and Organisation, 5 (2), pp. 119–124.Google Scholar
Earnshaw, J.M. (1998b), ‘Maternity Leave and the Right to Return’, Gender, Work and Organisation, 5 (4), pp. 245–248.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
International Labour Office (1994), Maternity and Work: Conditions of Work Digest 13, International Labour Office, Geneva.Google Scholar
International Labour Organisation (1997), ‘Perspectives’, International Labour Review, 136 (2), pp. 109–128.Google Scholar
International Labour Organisation (1998), ‘Maternity protection at work’, World of Work, 24, pp. 15–17.Google Scholar
OECD (1995), ‘Long-term leave for parents in OECD countries’, Employment Outlook, July, Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development, Paris.Google Scholar
Paoli, C. (1982), ‘Women Workers and Maternity: some Examples from Western Europe’, International Labour Review, 121 (1), pp. 1–16.Google Scholar
Rubery, J., Fagan, C. (1998), Equal Opportunities and Employment in the European Union, Federal Ministry of Labour, Health and Social Affairs, Vienna.Google Scholar