As a Mother of three children, juggling a career with the needs of dependents and establishing a work-life balance can be a challenge at the best of times. But over the last year I’ve had to take on the additional role of substitute teacher and, much to the horror of my children, hairdresser. I’ve also had to get more creative with lockdown friendly activities as their after-school clubs were cancelled and take on yet more cooking duties as the school canteens closed. If my performance had been formally reviewed for these roles, I would have scored in the ‘failing to meet expectations’ category.
Many commentators have recognised that over the last year, the pandemic has had a disproportionate impact on the lives of working mothers. Not only have children been at home studying for months on end, but studies have shown that women are more likely to have lost their jobs or be working in roles which puts them at risk of Covid (in healthcare) or in hospitality which has been crippled for months on end.
So what employment law protections and options are there for working mothers like me? I am delighted to have had the opportunity to write a post for Mumsnet addressing these issues which can be accessed here
This blog is by Caroline Oliver, Senior Solicitor at Didlaw
