Women in catering jobs should get better maternity deals

25/02/2010 15:46:08

Female catering workers in the UK are getting a tough deal when it comes to maternity entitlement, according to one expert, who said the current situation needs to be improved.

Alison Garnham, chief executive of Daycare Trust, said that she welcomes the EU plans to implement a European-wide extension of maternity leave to 20 weeks and thinks all maternity payments should be at the minimum wage, which may interest those looking for catering jobs.

"We would like to see mothers entitled to 26 weeks maternity leave at 90 per cent pay and fathers entitled to four weeks leave at 90 per cent pay," she stated.

The expert added that despite claims by the Treasury that the trust's proposals would be expensive, she thinks the evidence which shows it would be beneficial to UK society outweighs the initial costs.

In a recent piece of research from the National Childbirth Trust, one in three women said they found going back to work after having a baby 'difficult' or 'very difficult'.

Catering jobs in the UK

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