THOUSANDS of working women in Britain run the risk of losing their jobs if they become pregnant and try to return to work after maternity leave, according to a new study.

The Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) has conducted a survey among women which reveals 11 per cent of those questioned reported they were dismissed, made compulsorily redundant where other work colleagues were not, or treated so poorly they felt they had to leave their jobs.

If the findings are replicated across the entire population, it would mean as many as 54,000 women could lose their jobs each year.

The research, the largest of its kind, was carried out by the commission in partnership with the Department for Business Innovation and Skills and involved interviewing 6,000 women and employers in the UK.

Of those questioned 20 per cent of new mothers experienced harassment or negative comments from their colleagues, employer or manager when pregnant or returning from maternity leave.

Caroline Waters, Deputy Chair of the Equality and Human Rights Commission, said: “This research reveals the worrying levels of discrimination and disadvantage at work that women still face today. Not only is discrimination unlawful, but it is also bad for business.”

Dianah Worman, diversity adviser for the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD), the professional body for HR and people development, said: “The findings of this important research show how employers are losing female talent by default.

“It’s a wake-up call about checking against weak employment practices that cause such negative experiences for mums who want to work.

“It's time for employers to do some housekeeping in their organisations to make sure hidden problems and difficulties are surfaced and dealt with quickly to ensure they have both diverse and inclusive working environments.

“This will allow them to benefit from the added value women can contribute. At a time when the war for talent is hotting up, action is essential. It’s nonsense for talent to be wasted and discrimination in pregnancy and maternity, whether intended or not, is an urgent area to be addressed.”

Mike Ashton, chief executive of Herefordshire and Worcestershire Chamber of Commerce, said: “We have heard good and bad stories from working mothers among our membership. However, as an employer ourselves we recognise how important it is to retain good skills and we value good employees.

“By being flexible and understanding the demands placed on working mothers we have been very successful in retaining experienced staff. It is important for businesses in the two counties to recognise that they are at risk of losing talented employees if they believe pregnancy is bad for business.

“We are working alongside Worcestershire County Council on the Women2Web project which helped 300 local business women start up an grow online last year and is returning this year after a funding boost from the Government.

“This September there will be free networking sessions, mentoring and digital training for local business women and women looking at getting back into work. This will be a great opportunity for women to gain confidence after taking time out from work and is just one example of what the Chamber is doing for local businesswomen in the two counties.”

Examples of discrimination include:

• Making a woman redundant because she is pregnant or on maternity leave

• Not offering the same training or promotion opportunities to a woman because she is pregnant or on maternity leave

• Dismissing a woman because of pregnancy-related sickness

• Dismissing a woman on maternity leave shortly before she is due to return to work (or after she returns) and keeping the person covering her maternity leave on instead

• Refusing a pregnant employee reasonable time off for ante-natal appointments