National women’s campaign Working Forward celebrates 100 members

A national campaign that is led by British businesses and aims to end discrimination of pregnant women and mothers in the workplace is celebrating reaching 100 members. 

Pet care retailer Pets at Home has become the latest business to join the Working Forward campaign, which focuses on making employers aware of the best ways in which they can attract, develop and retain women at work and provide them with a better workplace.

Expertise

The campaign, which is supported by the Federation of Small Businesses (FSB), the Confederation of Business and Industry (CBI) and the Institute of Directors (IoD), has now reached over 1 million employees, with participating businesses sharing advice, expertise and knowledge with their peers.

Pets at Home will be joining other major businesses involved in the campaign, including Barclays, BT Group, Ford, Nationwide Building Society and Royal Mail.

The coalition of businesses was formed after research showed that 390,000 pregnant women and new mothers face pregnancy and maternity discrimination in the workplace every year.

The campaign is now calling for other businesses to sign up and pledge their support, with businesses being invited to offer their support via Twitter or the campaign’s LinkedIn group.

Critical

Equality and Human Rights Commission Deputy Chair Caroline Waters, who established the Working Forward campaign, commented: “Businesses are quite rightly taking this issue seriously and recognising that female talent is absolutely critical to the UK economy.”

She said that with 100 businesses pledging to take action and joining the Working Forward campaign, they have a strong coalition to ensure that working environments benefit everyone.

She added that the battle is not over yet, and it is necessary to drive the change that will eradicate the unfairness that discrimination during pregnancy and maternity creates for so many women every year.