50 signatures reached
To: Brent Council
KEEP MOTHERS IN BRENT SCHOOLS!
We are petitioning Brent Council to alter their maternity policy for employees in schools; the current policy gives employees a worse deal than at least 8 other London boroughs and also LIDL supermarket. We want the council to give occupational maternity pay at full time rate for longer than they currently do to bring Brent in line with many neighbouring employers and to retain these staff in our Brent workforce
Why is this important?
This campaign has far reaching consequences; if mothers are not financially protected whilst on maternity leave, we often lose them to the workforce;
we know this from a recent Brent NEU survey. We also know that mothers are forced to return way too early to our schools following childbirth, due to low pay, and this means they are unable to cope, physically and mentally, with a high stress job in a classroom. This is an equality issue as it ultimately forces these staff out of the profession either through sickness absence, capability processes or simply by a choice to leave. We also discovered that staff are choosing not to have children as they cannot afford to.
Having mothers working in our classrooms is a good thing- they bring with them experience and knowledge of childcare and early childhood. We do not want them leaving the workforce when they become pregnant, or leaving Brent prior to planning a family because they see that conditions are better elsewhere. How ironic that staff in schools care for everyone else's children but cannot care for their own (many of whom are Brent children and will end up in our schools)!
Education currently has a recruitment and retention crisis; paying more generous occupational maternity pay to our mothers in schools is one way of addressing this crisis.
Let's keep mothers in our Brent schools!
we know this from a recent Brent NEU survey. We also know that mothers are forced to return way too early to our schools following childbirth, due to low pay, and this means they are unable to cope, physically and mentally, with a high stress job in a classroom. This is an equality issue as it ultimately forces these staff out of the profession either through sickness absence, capability processes or simply by a choice to leave. We also discovered that staff are choosing not to have children as they cannot afford to.
Having mothers working in our classrooms is a good thing- they bring with them experience and knowledge of childcare and early childhood. We do not want them leaving the workforce when they become pregnant, or leaving Brent prior to planning a family because they see that conditions are better elsewhere. How ironic that staff in schools care for everyone else's children but cannot care for their own (many of whom are Brent children and will end up in our schools)!
Education currently has a recruitment and retention crisis; paying more generous occupational maternity pay to our mothers in schools is one way of addressing this crisis.
Let's keep mothers in our Brent schools!
