"Discriminating against pregnant women harms employers as well as mothers", 27 Oct 2016

...[T]here seems to be less advice for employers about how to get the best out of their female workforce, particularly when they start a family. Of course, there is legislation in place instructing employers not to discriminate against pregnant workers and new mothers, but the advantages of following best practice are rarely spelt out.  However, a new report published by the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) shows that discrimination against mothers is not only unfair and wrong, but may also be financially harmful to employers...[G]etting rid of pregnant workers or new mothers may actually end up costing companies money. In fact, at £280m a year, the total financial cost to employers is between two and six times greater than the total cost to the victims themselves...It turns out that recruiting people is expensive...In short, even though we can only capture some of the costs, we can conclude that pregnancy discrimination does have substantial costs - not only for the affected women but also, in cases leading to dismissal, for employers themselves...