New booklets were launched recently by the Acting Premier, the Hon Rob Hulls, spelling out the rights and obligations of employers and employees before, during and after an employee’s pregnancy, in a bid to prevent women being disadvantaged in the workplace.

The booklets are produced by Workforce Victoria and developed in collaboration with the Victorian Equal Opportunity and Human Rights Commission and JobWatch.

“The right to work and the choice to become pregnant should be a seamless part of the normal experience for women in the workforce,” said Dr Helen Szoke, Victorian Equal Opportunity and Human Rights Commission’s chief executive officer. “Yet, despite long-standing and new legislation protecting the rights of women who are pregnant or rearing children, women continue to be disadvantaged when attempting to combine their right to work with their choice to have children.”