During the 1990s, the law relating to maternity rights in the UK became increasingly complex as two sets of statutory leave provisions were interwoven with a growing body of sometimes inconsistent case law. Pleas for simplification came from all sides including the judiciary, as noted in the opening chapter of this book:
It is surely not too much to ask of the legislature that those who grapple with this topic should not have to have a wet towel around their heads as the single most important aid to the understanding of their rights (Ward, LJ for Lord Justic in Halfpenny v. IGE Medical Systems Ltd (1999) IRLR 177).
At the same time, a growing number of women were attempting to juggle with the conflicting demands of holding down a job at the same time as bringing up their children. Many sought to return to work part‐time or to work reduced hours in order to do so. More recently, there appears to have been a recognition that the struggle to achieve an appropriate work‐life balance is not confined to working mothers, and that bringing up children whilst attempting to pursue a career should not be seen simply as a “women’s problem”. There has been a greater focus on the rights and responsibilities of fathers, as well as an acceptance that flexible work patterns can benefit all those who have responsibilities as carers or who simply wish to pursue interests in life outside their jobs.
Against this background, the government has sought to persuade organisations to introduce “family‐friendly” policies to counter some of the worst effects on working parents of the long hours culture in the UK. ‘Good’ employers will no doubt heed the call, but others tend to need more forceful persuasion in the shape of legislation laying down minimum standards of individual rights. In the last few years we have certainly seen plenty of that. Some legislation has originated from the need to implement EU directives, such as the introduction of statutory parental leave and rights for part‐timers. Other provisions, such as the amendments to maternity rights in the Maternity and Parental Leave Regulations 1999, have been the government’s own attempts to reform the system and to make it less complex for all concerned.
The second edition of Maternity and Parental Rights brings together these new developments, as well as existing rights under long‐standing pieces of legislation such as the Sex Discrimination Act 1975 and the Equal Pay Act 1970. In doing so it presents a comprehensive picture of the relevant law. Like many a legal text book, particularly in the area of workers’ rights, it suffers from the fact that the law rarely stands still for long. Already there have been changes to the burden of proof in sex discrimination cases and to the definition of indirect sex discrimination: by April 2003 there will be enhanced rights to both paid and unpaid maternity leave and new rights to paternity and adoptive leave. One of its strengths, on the other hand, is that its authors are highly respected as experts in this field and have expertise and experience not only in providing legal advice, but also in chairing employment tribunals. They write clearly, concisely and accurately.
The book itself consists of 18 chapters and a number of useful appendices. The structure of the chapters varies. Some merely describe a single set of provisions such as those relating to time off for dependants, whereas others are more ambitious in scope and bring together relevant parts of a number of pieces of legislation in order to present a composite picture of, for example, “rights before birth”. The impression gained is that the chapters are not meant to be read sequentially because there is a significant amount of repetition from one chapter to another. Rather it seems as if the book is to be used as a reference manual when faced with a particular problem, in the knowledge that everything relevant to that issue will be contained within a given chapter.
The book begins by describing the policy background to the legislative framework before setting out the framework itself and linking the statutory rights to employment status. This is an important first step because as those familiar with this area of the law will be aware, it is increasingly important to check whether particular rights are of general application, or are restricted to “workers” or to “employees”. In this context, the book does rather overstate the position by indicating (as it does in this and subsequent chapters) that protection from sex discrimination and under the Part‐Time Worker Regulations is available to the “self‐employed” as opposed to a more dependent sub‐set of such individuals.
Chapter two sets out provisions of the Sex Discrimination Act and the Equal Pay Act, including some case law. Inevitably the discussion makes reference to EU law from time to time and arguably its relevant provisions and case law could have been usefully incorporated here rather than leaving them to a separate chapter later in the book.
Following this, one arrives at the first of the “composite” chapters, in which sex discrimination, unfair dismissal law and time off for antenatal care are brought together to describe rights before birth. In a similar way, chapter four covers health and safety protection, weaving together the detailed requirements of the Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999 with possible claims of sex discrimination and claims under the Employment Rights Act 1996. It concludes with an extremely helpful summary of the various health and safety duties, and remedies corresponding to their breach.
Chapter five is more straightforward – if such a word can be used in this area of law, because it covers the current provisions related to maternity leave which have greatly simplified the previous complex situation. Although the law will be amended in 2003 by lengthening the leave periods and notice periods, such changes will not significantly affect the relevance of this chapter because the basic structure of maternity rights will remain the same. However, no such comments about simplicity can be made about maternity pay and maternity allowance, which are described in the following two chapters, although the authors have made the best of a bad job by giving occasional “rules of thumb” and worked examples throughout the chapters. Nor is chapter eight much less complex, but this is mainly because an extremely detailed account is given about rights during maternity leave rather than because the provisions themselves are difficult to understand. The right to return, in chapter nine, appears unproblematic by comparison and is assisted by the first of a number of flow‐charts which appear throughout the book.
Chapter ten, which is entitled “Rights to child‐friendly working hours” is basically concerned with the application of indirect sex discrimination law to issues surrounding part‐time work. Of all the chapters this is perhaps the one which suffers most from recent changes in the law – not so much because the definition of indirect discrimination has altered dramatically, but because the chapter contains a substantial amount of case law on the meaning of specific phrases in the previous legislation such as “a considerably smaller proportion” which no longer appear in the wording of the new definition. The rights of part‐timers under the Part‐Time Worker Regulations are then dealt with in chapter eleven and, as in the case of the two subsequent chapters (on parental leave and time off for dependants), this is simply an account of the legislative provisions themselves, since as yet there is no case law to illustrate how they are likely to operate.
After a further “composite” chapter dealing with dismissal, redundancy and protection from detriment, the book concludes with chapters on EU law and the Human Rights Act. Even the kindest of reviewers would be hard pushed to describe the book as “a good read”. Nor does it make any real attempt to assess the effectiveness of the legislation or to highlight situations which are particularly likely to arise. On the other hand, what it does do is to deal comprehensively yet concisely with extremely complex and interacting sets of legal provisions. It answers not only those questions which naturally spring to mind but also those that most of us would never have thought to ask. In addition, it succeeds in simplifying matters where possible through well thought out and clearly presented summaries, and by the use of appropriate, often unreported, legal cases.
Contrary to what is suggested in the foreword, this is probably not a book which most students would take to, because it is simply too detailed and wide in its coverage. For similar reasons, it may not be sufficiently accessible to many of those individuals who believe their rights may have been infringed. However, for those with a legal background or experience within this field, it is likely to be invaluable when called on to give advice or provide representation.
