WHILE International Women’s Day is designed to celebrate women’s achievement, it also highlights areas of inequality still faced by women across the world.

Christine Hart, from KBL Solicitors in Bolton, says such inequality in the UK is perhaps most commonly observed in the workplace.

There have been major changes in UK employment law over recent years, namely the Equality Act and the Sex Discrimination Act, which are intended to protect working women from discrimination.

Women also benefit from special treatment in redundancy situations while they are absent on maternity leave, and are entitled to be offered any suitable alternative roles ahead of other employees, regardless of whether they are the best candidate.

Despite this, up until very recently, Miss Hart said the UK’s model of family-related employment law was still geared towards the outdated stereotype of women taking on caring responsibilities while men were viewed as breadwinners.

For example, upon the birth of a child, mothers are currently entitled to take a year of maternity leave while fathers typically return to work following two week’s paternity leave.

“This stereotype is often not reflective of the roles women play in modern families and can act as a barrier to equality, preventing women from advancing their careers,” Miss Hart said.

In a bid to address the problem, the government introduced the children and families bill in February. If approved, the legislation would significantly change the rights of mums and dads at work, as it is proposed parents will be able to share leave and pay entitlements, taking up to 52 weeks’ leave, either in a single period or non-consecutive periods.

Employees on shared parental leave will enjoy similar protections to those currently afforded to women on maternity leave, and pay will be at the same rate as statutory maternity leave.

The bill could also introduce rights for fathers to take leave to attend up to two ante-natal appointments. Ms Hart said: “The shared leave principle will go a long way to change the current gender stereotypes which are often a barrier to women, and will enable both parents to balance work and family.

“Over the past few decades, employment law changes have played a significant role in assisting women to enter and stay in the workplace in unprecedented numbers.

“The introduction of any legislation that further supports this will no doubt be welcomed by women at all levels of seniority.”