Refusal to offer mother part time work 'discriminatory'

By Siobhan Callan

As part of a recent judgement the Administrative Decisions Tribunal has ordered a company to pay a woman $16,000 in damages after refusing to offer her part-time work on returning from maternity leave.

The woman had been forced to resign from the company after being unable to secure part-time employment in order to care for her young daughter.

It was ruled that the company had unlawfully discriminated against on the ground of her responsibilities as a carer (Reddy v. International Cargo Express (2004) NSW ADT 218].

Section 49V(2) of the Anti-Discrimination Act provides that "It is unlawful for an employer to discriminate against an employee on the ground of the employee's responsibilities as a carer: (a) in the terms or conditions of employment that the employer affords the employee."

This is the first case in which the "carer's responsibility" amendment to the Act has been used to successfully win a claim for part time work (previously mothers had won similar cases on the grounds of discrimination on the basis of sex).

The woman had wanted to work three days a week because of her responsibilities in caring for her daughter. She had been unable to find suitable childcare and so had made arrangements for her mother to mind her daughter. She also sought to have the starting and finishing times of her working day altered to enable her to be home in time to prepare her daughter's dinner and prepare her for bed.

The employer responded by saying that the women was not entitled to work part-time and, in doing so, the Tribunal found that the employer had reacted in a "knee-jerk" way and had failed to properly consider the woman's proposal.

Importantly, the Tribunal found that while the woman's proposal "may well have involved some material degree of inconvenience to the company...less consideration appears to have been given to the adverse effects on Mrs Reddy by requiring her to work full-time".

The company's barrister was reported as saying that in making the decision the Tribunal was "saying it now requires employers to create part-time positions for women returning to the workforce".

Over past years concerns have often been expressed by women members trying to gain part-time work after returning from maternity leave. Federation will be considering the implications of this recent finding of the Administrative Decisions Tribunal for teachers in the NSW public education system.

Siobhan Callan is the Women's Coordinator.

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