The army, women & children

[sweetjessicajane]

They following story has appear in several different papers. It raises a number of issues about the army and parenthood.

www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/politics/defence/7584666/Single-mother-soldier-within-her-rights-to-miss-training-over-childcare.html

Is it reasonable to expect the same level of "child friendly" options in the forces as in civilian life?

I choose the telegraph version of this story as it contained an interesting quote:

In its judgment, the tribunal ruled: "Despite it being foreseeable that Miss DeBique could become a single parent while in service and if that happened that she would have difficulty with her childcare arrangements unless a member of her extended family who was a foreign national could live with her, the Army failed to make appropriate arrangements for such an eventuality.

Does this now mean that every potential female recruit will be viewed as a potential single parent with all the childcare issues that entails?

Does this story harm women's employability both in the military and civilian life if employers feel worried that they may find themselves caught up in a lawsuit of this kind?

[marchesarosa]

So soldiers have the right to import foreign national relatives to assist with childcare and the Army is expected to have foreseen this "need"?

Oh, how the PC are going to get their teeth into this one! Every minority issue one could possibly hope to find and all combined in a single case! Immigration, race, gender, employment rights, marital status. It only remains to be established, is she gay? Has she considered a "civil partnership" or even a house husband?

Does this story harm women's employability both in the military and civilian life if employers feel worried that they may find themselves caught up in a lawsuit of this kind?

Do you mean to tell me you think there is more than ONE woman in this situation in the UK?

[jamesjosh]

Does this story harm women's employability both in the military and civilian life if employers feel worried that they may find themselves caught up in a lawsuit of this kind

Yes - I do not understand why this was described as sexual and racial discrimination. If a white man did to not attend parade due to the fact that he was looking after his child he would surely have faced the same disciplinary procedures.

www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/politics/defence/7598803/Single-mother-wins-just-1pc-of-Army-discrimination-claim.html

Then there is later story and this interesting item

But the Central London Employment Tribunals heard how she was offered a special five-year posting to Blandford in Dorset complete with childcare and a virtual guarantee that she would not be posted abroad, in an attempt to persuade her to stay.

It meant relaxing the Army’s own rules on postings and amounted to “positive discrimination”, the tribunal found.

[sweetjessicajane]

Marchesarosa

Apologies I realised that I may not have been as clear as I could have been. I accept that this is an extreme case. From the reports I have read the army did what it could to help this woman, but she felt that it wasn't enough. The soldier in question quit, and blamed the army for not getting the immigration rules changed so her sister could come to this country.

Apr 17, 2010 7:25:04 GMT marchesarosa said:

Does this story harm women's employability both in the military and civilian life if employers feel worried that they may find themselves caught up in a lawsuit of this kind?

Do you mean to tell me you think there is more than ONE woman in this situation in the UK?

So the point I was trying to make is this:-

If an employer, be they forces, public sector or private sector, does what they can to accommodate the needs of an employee who is a parent; should the employer fear being sued if the employee thinks they aren't doing enough? And could this fear of litigation put an employer off employing someone with caring responsibilities?