Is your workplace Mum Friendly?

We believe that every employer should have the knowledge and infrastructure to be able to support the wellbeing and development of all employees at every stage of their lives, including supporting mums through pregnancy, maternity and return to work. How well equipped are you with policy and practice to manage this transition? Are you really Mum Friendly?

Take the test

The stories of Magda, Florence, Amira and Martha are based on real life experiences which we heard about in our conversations with women across Scotland. Watch the videos below to hear their stories and then take the quizzes to test your understanding of Mum Friendly Workplaces.

Part One: Flexibility at work

Watch the film to learn about Magda's experiences, then take the quiz to test your knowledge.

Watch the film: Magda's Story

Take the test

Learn about employees' rights to flexible working

What is flexible working?

With more women returning to work after maternity at an increasing rate, it is important for employers to be responsive to flexible working.

This isn’t just about working part-time, but relates to hours, location or work tasks. Some women agree flexible working before or during maternity, while others agree to work flexibly on their return- be it for a short time or longer period to accommodate the change to their circumstances.

Know Your Rights

The Flexible Working Regulations were amended in 2014, extending the right to request flexible working to cover all employees, from only those with children under the age of 18.

Every employee now has the right to request flexible working after a 26 week period of employment service. The request can cover hours of work, times of work, and place of work and may include requests for different patterns of work. Any change granted under the right to request flexible working is usually permanent. Employers should make clear to employees what information they need to include in a written request to work flexibly.

A request from an employee must include the following information:

Date of application, change to sought working conditions, when they would like changes to come into effect.
What impact they think [if any] the proposed changes would have on the employer and how that impact may be dealt with.
A statement that it is a statutory request, and details of previous applications for flexible working [if any].

Once an employer has received a written request for flexible working, they must consider it. The employer should arrange a meeting with an employee as soon as possible after receiving their request. If an employer intends on approving the request, a meeting is not necessary. Employers should discuss with the employee the type of flexible working preferred by them, and which arrangements are most workable.

An employee can only make a statutory request once in any 12 month period. However, temporary changes may still be negotiated. It is good equalities practice for businesses to have an open door policy where staff are able to discuss personal circumstances and responsibilities affecting their work with a manager/employer and for realistic temporary alternatives to be explored.

Employers must seriously consider an application but are not obliged to agree if sound business reasons can be proven, in line with current legislation. These are:

The burden of additional costs.
An inability to reorganise work amongst existing staff.
An inability to recruit additional staff.
A detrimental impact on quality.
A detrimental impact on performance.
A detrimental effect on ability to meet customer demand.
Insufficient work for the periods the employee proposes to work.
A planned structural change to the business.

An employee has the right to appeal any decision.

Examples of flexible working

Part- time: Employees work less than the normal or standard full-time hours.
Flexi- time: Agreed ‘core’ hours must be worked but there is flexibility on start/finish times.
Job share: Two people share the work normally done by one.
Condensed hours: Contacted hours are worked over less days, such as a four day week or nine day fortnight.
Annualised hours: Annual hours are calculated and split into set shifts and unallocated shifts. This is usually suitable to seasonal work.
Staggered hours: Working patterns that stagger staring and finishing and break times.
Term-time working: Fewer hours or staff time off during school holidays.
Working from home: Agreed on a regular or ad hoc basis as long as there is appropriate technology to support it.
TOIL time off in lieu: Claiming back hours work in lieu of overtime for additional hours.
Shift working: includes both long-term, night shifts and work schedules in which employees change or rotate shifts.

Part Two: Breastfeeding

Watch the film to learn about Florence's experiences, then take the quiz to test your knowledge.

Watch the film: Florence's Story

Take the test

Learn about breastfeeding in the workplace

Breastfeeding rights

In the UK, there is no statutory right to time off to express milk or breastfeed a baby in the workplace. However, where an employer refuses to accommodate your breastfeeding needs this may give rise to a claim against them for sex discrimination.

A refusal to allow a breastfeeding employee to express milk or to adjust her working conditions to enable her to continue to breastfeed may amount to unlawful sex discrimination. It is good practice for the employer to consider the request objectively and discuss it with the employee. If the employer still cannot allow extra breaks without there being an unacceptable impact on the business then this would explain the decision taken and therefore less likely to constitute indirect sex discrimination. Employers should make sure they consider a request for breastfeeding in the same vein as a temporary change to working condition from an employee for any reason.

What does breastfeeding in the workplace look like in practice?

Going home to feed if employees live nearby and have agreed this with their manager.

Going to a nearby nursery, if the nursery is nearby and breastfeeding breaks have been negotiated with the employer.
A relative or childminder brining the child to the workplace to be fed, if this was agreed with the employer and an appropriate breastfeeding space decided upon.
Expressing milk - employees who want to continue to feed their baby will express at work and store the milk in a cool place, usually in a separate, sealable container for hygiene purposes.
A toilet is not an acceptable space to express. Expressing milk usually requires the use of a manual or electric pump. The pump and bottles must be sterile so it’s vital the woman has access to private, clean and hygienic facilities to express.

If office ‘banter’ strikes up in relation to breastfeeding at work, this may amount to harassment under the Equality Act 2010. Where requests for the expressing on storing of milk is approved, an employer must guard against inappropriate behaviour towards an employee who is breastfeeding. This can be achieved by getting facilities right and preventing banter that may be offensive to the breastfeeding employee.

Part Three: Postnatal depression

Watch the film to learn about Amira's experiences, then take the quiz to test your knowledge.

Watch the film: Amira's Story

Take the test

Learn about postnatal depression and maternity rights

Under the Equality Act 2010, a person is disabled if they have a physical or mental impairment that has a substantially adverse and long-term effect on their ability to carry out normal day- to-day activities. A condition like post-natal depression means that mums have the right to ask for a ‘reasonable adjustment’ to working hours. An employer must make reasonable adjustments when a workplace feature or practice puts a worker or job applicant with a disability at a disadvantage. The employer has a duty under the Equality Act 2010 to see what ‘reasonable adjustments’ can be made if:

they becomes aware of their disability
they could reasonably be expected to know a worker has a disability
the worker asks for adjustments to be made
the worker is having difficulty with any part of their job
either the worker's sickness record, or delay in returning to work, is linked to their disability.

The employer should hold a meeting with the worker to discuss what can be done to help them. For example, this could be as simple as a change in working hours.

For more information on pre- or post-natal depression, see this from Mind

Or, if you need someone to talk to, you can call:

Parentline Scotland on 08000 28 22 33 Monday to Friday from 9am - 9pm
Association for Post Natal Illness on 020 7386 0868 or via email 10am-2pm, Monday to Friday

Part Four: Supporting LGBTQ mums

Watch the film to learn about Martha's experiences, then take the quiz to test your knowledge.

Watch the film: Martha's Story

Take the test

Learn about LGBTQ mums' rights

Supporting LGBT Mums

Creating an inclusive workplace

While there are no specific rights that apply exclusively to LGBT mums, there are still ways employers can create a supportive environment.

LGBT couples are more likely than heterosexual couples to use alternative methods of starting a family, such as surrogacy, adoption or IVF.

However, employees do not have a statutory right to take time off for fertility treatment. Employers are best advised to treat medical appointments related to IVF the same way as any other medical appointment under the terms and conditions of the contract of employment.

Paternity leave is not just for the biological father

Same-sex parents of both sexes can take paternity leave provided that they are the spouse, civil partner or partner of the mother/primary carer and they have the main responsibility for the upbringing of the child. They will also be entitled to take unpaid time off to attend two antenatal appointments with the mother/primary carer. Paternity leave can be taken as to two weeks paid leave at any point within 56 days of the birth of the child or the child being placed for adoption.

What does supporting an LGBT mum in the workplace look like in practice?

Have a clear mission statement

Develop and communicate a clear mission to all of your employees, including managers and senior staff, through education and diversity training about your inclusion policies and strategies for supporting LGBT employees. ·

Take discrimination/harassment of any sort seriously

Take discrimination seriously in your recruitment and promotion practices. Establish a strong anti-discrimination policy and be sure all employees know what is not tolerated in the workplace, and in cases of homophobic bullying, promptly recognise the problem and take action.

Develop engagement programmes for staff

Develop support and engagement programmes for LGBT employees such as mentoring, employee networking groups, seminars and conferences.

Promote straight allies and senior staff champions

Promote straight allies of LGBT people, who can act as support networks to LGBT employees and help champion the message that diversity is part of your organisation’s mission. Gain the support from managers and promote senior staff champions, who can help implement diversity initiatives, mentor junior LGBT colleagues, and act as sponsors of employee network groups.

Offer equal benefits to all employees regardless of sexual orientation

Offer equal benefits to all employees, regardless of their sexual orientation, including parental leave, adoption leave, and time off to take care of dependants.

Use inclusive language

Create an inclusive environment by using gender-neutral language, like ‘partner’ instead of husband or wife and ensure workplace policies reflect this to strengthen inclusive practice.

Celebrate success

Celebrate your successes and monitor your progress by tracking things such as number of employee grievances, completion rates of diversity training, or how LGBTQ-inclusive employees and customers rate the organsation as.

For more information around LGBT rights in Scotland, see The Equality Network.

Your next steps

Remember, no matter what you score, it’s important to have conversations like these and consider what you can do to be more mum friendly.

Visit the Mum Friendly Workplaces employers guide for more information about rights, anti-discrimination, and other businesses' success stories. Share the Guide for Working Mums with your team, so everyone is informed about the support they can get around different experiences.

Is your workplace Mum Friendly?

Take the test

Part One: Flexibility at work

What is flexible working?

Know Your Rights

Examples of flexible working

Part Two: Breastfeeding

Part Three: Postnatal depression

Part Four: Supporting LGBTQ mums

Supporting LGBT Mums

LGBT couples are more likely than heterosexual couples to use alternative methods of starting a family, such as surrogacy, adoption or IVF.

Paternity leave is not just for the biological father

What does supporting an LGBT mum in the workplace look like in practice?

Have a clear mission statement

Take discrimination/harassment of any sort seriously

Develop engagement programmes for staff

Promote straight allies and senior staff champions

Offer equal benefits to all employees regardless of sexual orientation

Use inclusive language

Celebrate success

For more information around LGBT rights in Scotland, see The Equality Network.

Your next steps

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A guide for working mums

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