Handbag entrepreneur Anya Hindmarch has criticised maternity laws saying they could force firms to employ men rather than women.
The mother of five warned that any further regulation will “cripple” the country, and said women should have to commit to how much time they plan to take off after having a baby.
Speaking before the Commons Business Innovation and Skills Committee she warned: “There is a brown envelope flashing above every woman’s head in terms of tribunal threat.”
Speaking about regulation, Ms Hindmarsh said: “I think it could end up working against women, unfortunately. As a woman, a mother of five and as employer of a lot of women with children, it would end up making you make a choice between employing a man or a woman.
“You probably might pick the easier route because the regulation and consequential cost and eggshell treading would be just too onerous.”
She added: “I cannot say strongly enough that any more regulation will cripple this country. We are so over-regulated.”
She added that she feels uncomfortable talking to her employees about their planned maternity leave, saying: “I find myself treading on eggshells and becoming hugely legal. It just feels really wrong.
“It would be great if you were able to have a sensible chat. I would prefer it to go a stage further. It would work much better for women if they were asked to commit to how long they will take off.”
Currently bosses can ask a pregnant employee to reveal her plans for maternity leave, but she does not have to answer and the company must not do anything to pressurise her.
Women who go on maternity leave are able to take up to a year off, with nine months paid. Women can also request flexible working on their return.
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The committee’s report into women in the workplace, published yesterday, called for large firms to publish pay audits to highlight where large gender pay gaps exist. It also called on the government to name firms where flexible working is a success, to dispel the myth that it is problematic.
A spokesman for the Department for Business said a new system of shared parental leave, which allows working couples to choose how they share childcare in the first year after birth, was replacing “old fashioned and rigid” rules.
