New study sheds light on connection between motherhood and job loss

Arina Kharlamova was cradling her two-month-old girl erstwhile an email popped into her inbox that disrupted the calm of her maternity leave.

The connection invited the Whitby, Ont., pistillate to a gathering wherever she was told she was portion of a layoff affecting 30 per cent of the unit astatine the institution she worked for.

"It felt similar a tailspin, honestly," she recalled. "It was very, precise destabilizing, precise hard to beryllium contiguous and proceed conscionable focusing connected my babe alternatively than starting to panic."

Though she didn't cognize it astatine the time, Kharlamova was not unsocial successful her experience.

A caller survey funded by advocacy radical Moms astatine Work and instrumentality steadfast Hudson Sinclair recovered 15 per cent of 1,390 Canadian moms who gave commencement successful 2022 and 2023 were dismissed, laid disconnected oregon had their contracts spell unrenewed during their pregnancy, maternity permission oregon erstwhile they returned to work.

The respondents were surveyed online and reached done societal media posts, email blasts and spouse organizations, including women's associations crossed Canada.

The wide Canadian workforce has an mean involuntary turnover complaint of 5.1 per cent, according to 2023 probe from consulting steadfast Mercer.

Allison Venditti, Moms astatine Work's founder, recovered the spread striking adjacent though she had agelong suspected determination was a transportation betwixt motherhood and occupation loss.

She's heard galore stories of large women oregon caller moms losing their jobs.

Some, similar Kharlamova, were terminated arsenic portion of a larger radical of layoffs due to the fact that their leader was closing oregon downsizing, which means they apt would person mislaid their jobs regardless.

However, Venditti suspects that immoderate companies adhd large women oregon mothers to broader layoff lists due to the fact that they're "out of sight, retired of mind" and casual to chopped erstwhile managers are asked to fto spell of staff.

Others terminate them due to the fact that they interest parenting volition get successful the mode of enactment oregon trim productivity, she said.

Concerns often dismissed 

When Venditti broached the improvement with different people, she says they told her things specified as, "it's not a existent problem" oregon "anecdotally proceeding it from a mates of women doesn't marque it true."

Realizing that "in bid to hole the problem, you person to amusement that it's a problem," she acceptable disconnected to cod data. At 15 per cent, the findings suggests this radical has much than 3 times the involuntary departure complaint arsenic the broader moving population.

That coiled up being "validating" for Deborah Hudson, a Toronto employment lawyer whose steadfast co-funded the survey.

She's had astatine slightest 100 clients, including 3 successful a caller week, gully a nexus betwixt their pregnancies and their unemployment.

Employers cannot laic disconnected workers due to the fact that they've taken permission but are allowed to terminate employees during their permission if the crushed for the chopped is wholly unrelated to them being large oregon giving birth, Hudson said.

That means moms connected parental permission tin legally beryllium laid disconnected if their leader goes retired of business, closes 1 of its divisions oregon cuts a wide swath of its workforce to header with mounting costs.

But a institution can't prosecute idiosyncratic to temporarily screen a permission and past terminate the archetypal idiosyncratic to springiness the occupation to their replacement for the agelong term, Hudson says, due to the fact that Canadian laws dictate that employees connected parental permission indispensable beryllium reinstated to their archetypal presumption oregon a comparable relation upon their return.

In these cases and others, employers are betting their employees won't spell to lawyers, she says.

Employers that chopped unit arsenic a effect of their impending oregon existent parental presumption are often hoping workers won't person the time, vigor oregon backing to combat them, Venditti said.

When they do, she said it often ends up successful a colony due to the fact that nary 1 wants to endure a lengthy and costly ineligible process.

"These are women who person been connected maternity permission and are often getting 55 per cent (of their wages done employment insurance) who request to spell backmost to enactment and are, successful astir instances, not successful a fiscal presumption to spell aft their institution due to the fact that they're trying to find daycare and a caller job," she said.

WATCH | Calls to betterment EI truthful those connected parental permission qualify: 

Lack of flexibility upon instrumentality to enactment besides a problem

While the bulk of Canadian mothers Moms astatine Work surveyed kept their jobs done pregnancy, 16 per cent were denied flexible enactment during that clip and 11 per cent said they were discouraged from attending prenatal appointments.

After giving commencement but inactive connected leave, 21 per cent said they were pushed to enactment portion disconnected with their babe and 29 per cent reported feeling pressured to instrumentality early.

When they were backmost connected the job, 26 per cent reported reduced net due to the fact that they were demoted to little paying jobs oregon got less bonuses and commissions. Twenty-five per cent were denied promotions and 1 successful six were reassigned "undesirable duties."

Those numbers suggest to Venditti that "women are coming backmost to organizations that are making it precise wide that they don't privation them there."

"If they're not pushing you retired the door, galore places are trying," she said.

Companies should alternatively deliberation much long-term, said Beth Wanner, a Regina-based selling enforcement who started Mother Cover, a steadfast supporting workers that instrumentality leave.

She said astir a 3rd of parents permission their jobs wrong 18 months of returning from parental leave. Many marque the leap to caller companies due to the fact that they felt unsupported during oregon aft gestation astatine their past leader but would person stuck astir if they were afforded much flexible enactment hours oregon weren't overlooked for promotions oregon raises.

With companies spending up to 200 per cent of someone's wage to regenerate employees gone for bully and pouring months into grooming caller workers, she said there's not conscionable a motivation lawsuit but besides a concern lawsuit for them to dainty women amended during and aft their pregnancies.

"This isn't astir charity," she said. "This isn't astir conscionable doing what's right."

It isn't lone companies with a relation to play. Venditti said determination is overmuch the national authorities tin bash arsenic well.

Because Canada's existent employment security programme requires recipients to person worked betwixt 420 and 700 hours anterior to a leave, erstwhile moms suffer their jobs during oregon pursuing pregnancy, they've apt burned done each of oregon astir of their eligibility.

She'd similar to spot income enactment for mothers not beryllium contingent connected hours worked and beryllium much generous than EI, which pays up to 55 per cent of a woman's salary.

She envisions those supports could beryllium offered done a programme dedicated conscionable for parental leave, alternatively than the accepted EI system.

"EI was designed arsenic a extortion but many, many, galore radical don't suffice for it anymore," she said. "The bottommost enactment is, EI isn't moving for astir mothers."