Meeting of the Parliament 01 March 2016
Thank you, Presiding Officer.
We do not yet have Scotland-specific figures, but the Equality and Human Rights Commission has reported that, across Britain, more than one in 10 new and expectant mothers reported that they had been dismissed or made compulsorily redundant while others in their workplace were not, or treated so poorly that they felt that they had to leave their jobs. Many of us assumed that that issue disappeared decades ago, but it seems that it did not. The Scottish figures are unlikely to be much at variance with that, so we have moved to take action, which I announced a few days ago. I hope that members will look at that, because it is important that we take the matter seriously as part and parcel of the fair work portfolio.
I will not say anything now about the Trade Union Bill because I want to say something—very quickly—about the fair work convention, which will report in a few short weeks. The committee’s report has been useful for the convention, as it contains a lot of material that is relevant to the work that the convention is doing. The convention’s report to us will provide a practical framework for employers, employees and others. We will go into the new session of Parliament with those recommendations in place and they will be fully considered. In the meantime, I look forward to continuing to work with all interested parties to promote fair work in Scotland.
In my dying seconds, I note that Murdo Fraser discussed Amazon. I hope that he is happy to hear that I will be visiting Amazon staff tomorrow to discuss with them directly some of the issues that have been raised about practices.
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