Government scheme slammed for excluding women on maternity leave

“Blatant discrimination against women” is how a Labour senator described the temporary wage subsidy scheme which "locks out" those who want to return to work but were on unpaid maternity leave in late February.
Government scheme slammed for excluding women on maternity leave

Pregnant woman, file photo
Pregnant woman, file photo

“Blatant discrimination against women” is how a Labour senator described the temporary wage subsidy scheme which "locks out" those who want to return to work but were on unpaid maternity leave in late February.

Senator Marie Sherlock said that those in lower-paid, less secure jobs will be most badly impacted by omission from the scheme.

Women who were on maternity leave but were still being paid by their employer on February 29 qualify for the temporary wage subsidy scheme (TWSS) which reimburses employers for all or part of an employee's wages.

But data from previous years shows that 52% of the 20,000 women on maternity leave annually only receive the State maternity benefit of €245 per week.

This means that the majority of women returning from maternity leave are not covered by the TWSS and are being effectively laid-off, Ms Sherlock said, which contravenes equality legislation.

"Working mothers are equal in the eyes of the law with every other worker except in a time of public health crisis. That’s the really galling thing about this legislation," she said.

There’s the principal of the discrimination and the second issue is that this does not affect all women equally.

"It primarily affects lower-paid women. There’s a much lower chance of your maternity benefit being topped up by your employer if you are on lower pay, there are a number of studies to substantiate that."

The National Women’s Council of Ireland (NWCI) has now contacted the Irish Human Rights and Equality Commission (IHREC), regarding the exclusion of women returning from maternity leave from the TWSS and the Minister for Finance’s refusal to rectify the issue.

Orla O'Connor, Director of the NWCI believes that the TWSS fails to comply with the Maternity Protection Act 1994, yet Minister for Finance Paschal Donohoe confirmed to the NWCI that he will not change his approach to the matter.

Ms Sherlock said that concerns over new mums' exclusion from the scheme were raised more than three weeks ago by the NWCI, SIPTU and other trade unions.

"But the government has failed to act," she said.

Employment law solicitor Richard Grogan believes that women will

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"I'm incredulous that the Government would not head off any challenge to it now and just remedy the legislation," Ms Sherlock said.

"This is a case of basic discrimination against women going back to work.

"There’s no reason why the Minister for Finance could not go back in and amend the legislation to ensure that the scheme does not preclude women returning from maternity benefit to be covered by the scheme.

"Pregnancy and maternity are protected status under equality legislation in this country. Women cannot be dismissed because they were absent due to pregnancy or having had a baby.

"But this new legislation doesn’t protect that because women now returning to work are being temporarily laid off because their employers have had to close due to the health crisis and the temporary wage subsidy scheme excludes them.

"It is understandable with the rapidity with which this legislation had to be processed that anomalies may arise, but we have now identified the anomaly, it was identified a number of weeks ago and it has literally fallen on deaf ears.

"Women are effectively being left high and dry just  because they were coming back from maternity leave when this public health crisis kicked off."

Q&A

What is the temporary wage subsidy scheme?

The temporary wage subsidy scheme (TWSS) is an emergency measure brought in to subsidise employers struggling due to the Covid-19 crisis. The scheme subsidised qualifying businesses €410 per employee per week up to May 4 with a subsidy to be paid based on individual wages thereafter.

Are all women on maternity leave excluded from the TWSS?

No. Women who were having their maternity benefit topped up by their employer on February 29 were still on their employer's payroll and therefore should qualify for the scheme.

How many women will this effect?

We do not have the current figures. In previous years, approximately 52% of the 20,000 women who took maternity leave only received State maternity benefit so the portion of this cohort who have wanted to return to work this year may be affected.

Could the legislation be amended?

Yes. Technically the Finance Minister could amend this legislation to specifically include all women returning from maternity leave.

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