In Conversation With Sarah Russell, Employment Law Specialist - Paternity Leave And Ending Discrimination: A Fashion Focus

Image: Sarah Russell

Activist Group ‘Pregnant Then Screwed’ made deadlines over social media this week, as the Education Select Committee has launched an inquiry into childcare and early years education. Given so many of the fashion industry are women, as well as freelance, to delve further into the issue of access to good quality, affordable and accessible childcare, and the impact this might have on your career, decisions to have children, and your hopes for your family, we interviewed Employment Law Specialist Sarah Russell. In this Q&A she answers our questions on paternity leave, freelancing and childcare, and discrimination, with a fashion industry focus. 

So you’ve represented a lot of women from the fashion sector. How does the fashion industry differ from other sectors? 

I’ve represented a lot of women, including designers and buyers, who were made ‘redundant’ for no apparent reason other than having the audacity to have a baby. Maternity discrimination is endemic in Britain, with an estimated 40,000-50,000 women per year losing their jobs whilst pregnant or on maternity leave over and above what you would otherwise expect for their demographic (figures from the Commission for Equality and Human Rights). Despite often priding itself on being socially liberal, the fashion industry in my experience and that of my clients, has a pretty diabolical attitude to pregnancy. 

Can you explain what this has to do with paternity leave? 

The problem at the moment is that in heterosexual couples, only women are taking significant time off. Then they are the ones who are typically going part-time, having got used to being at home with the baby. So it’s young women who are deemed to be a ‘risk’, and employers either refuse to employ them in the first place or are sacking them whilst they’re pregnant or out of the office on maternity leave. 

Can you delve into the rules around entitlement? 

The rules around entitlement are complex, but parents can share up to 50 weeks of parental leave between them.  After that, both are entitled to 4 weeks of unpaid leave per year every year per child, up to a maximum of 18 weeks over the child’s life. Eligibility for self-employed parents is more complicated but there is still scope for paid leave in many circumstances (more details here).

Do you think if more men take up parental leave, it’ll have an impact on women? 

What was clear during the pandemic was that working from home, something a lot of working mothers had requested and been refused for years, turned out to be no problem at all once men were doing it too. And it’ll be the same with parental leave. Women will stop being sacked for taking leave, as more men do so. 

What about those women in the fashion sector that are freelance, how does paternity leave affect them? If this is the case, what advice would you offer these women and employers? 

The entitlement rules are quite complex but most partners will still be entitled to two weeks of paternity leave plus shared parental leave even if the woman is freelance. I'm self-employed myself, and my husband took six months of shared parental leave with our third child.

In that situation it's incumbent on an employed partner to take shared parental leave to look after the baby as soon as possible for as long as financially viable, so that their other half can get back to their favourite jobs again asap. Anyone with employment is more likely to have a role to come back to if they take shared parental leave than a freelancer is. Freelancers have discrimination rights too, but they are more difficult to enforce. 

I'd urge employers who care about equality to review their employment model to offer employed roles or at least a stable fixed-term or minimum hours contract to anyone who they realistically can. 

Anything else to add? 

A plea to employers. Please make parents of any sex feel comfortable about taking time off. Make sure if your self-employed people are taking time out for caring responsibilities, you pre book them immediately afterwards, so they know they can relax and enjoy it without worrying they’ll lose their clients. And if you’re about to do a round of redundancies, or stop using people, think critically about who you’re selecting. Check the gender and ethnicity make-up of those who are being exited is in line with your organisation overall. And make sure that those on parental leave aren't on your delete list. 

Sarah Russell is a solicitor specialising in employment law. To get in touch, email sarahr@foxwhitfield.com or connect with her here.

To feed into the Inquiry by the Education Select Committee, click here.