There has been a myriad of successful achievements by sportswomen in the UK in recent years. The England footballers won the UEFA European Women's Championship and England's rugby team, currently the number one ranked women's side in the world, reached the women's rugby World Cup final. These achievements have garnered much greater attention to women's sport, but there are still steps to be taken to provide a better (and equal) landscape for women employed in sport. In this article, we look at two recent employment law developments in women's sport. 

Maternity policies

The Rugby Football Union (RFU)'s new maternity, pregnant parent and adoption leave policy has been hailed as a significant step forward that normalises parenthood in professional sport.

Under the policy:

• players who are pregnant will receive an enhanced level of job security. If a player is on contract and contracts are being renegotiated or extended while she is on pregnancy or maternity leave, she will have her contract extended for a minimum period of 12 months;
• players are now entitled to 26 weeks of fully paid maternity leave;
• players who are selected within 12 months of giving birth or adopting a child are now entitled to funding for the travel and accommodation costs of children under 12 months of age and a support person to join them at games or during training camps;
• the RFU will pay for specialist physiotherapists to check players before and after giving birth, such that player needs can be assessed for their recovery to be supported; and
• pregnant players have the capacity to go through a risk assessment to determine other duties they can perform within rugby until their maternity leave begins.

By way of comparison with other sports in the UK, the England and Wales Cricket Board guarantees the full salary of female players for the first 13 weeks post childbirth and provides 90% of players' full pay for the 20 weeks following those 13 weeks.

For football, the Football Association and Professional Footballers Association have also recently announced a landmark agreement. There will no longer be a minimum period of employment to qualify for the maternity policy, under which players in the top two tiers of women's football in England going on maternity leave will be paid 100% of their weekly wages, including any other remuneration and benefits, for the first 14 weeks of maternity leave.

The RFU's policy is especially beneficial given that World Rugby guidelines state that pregnant women should not play or train, and this policy provides an avenue for players to take up alternative roles while pregnant. The first point of the new policy is the one that really stands out. Some of the main insecurities as a professional sportsperson are the uncertainties created by continual contract negotiations, fixed-term contracts (usually contracts are much shorter in the women's game than in the men's game), and a lack of career longevity. These factors may well put women off having children until their sporting career is over in fear of it affecting contract negotiations. The job security that the new policy creates will reduce some of the obstacles to women starting a family during their sporting career. The additional job security provided by the policy also helps to create an environment that is more inclusive of family life and makes parenthood in sport more normalised. 

Increasing pay

According to latest published accounts, Arsenal Women Football Club has increased the pay of players by almost 30%. While this is a great step forward for women's football, the issue remains of the tremendous salary difference when compared to men's football. It is known that the salaries male football players earn is reflective of the revenues that the sport generates through sponsorships, television deals, as well as tickets sold to attend matches. Since a new broadcasting deal was agreed between the Women's Super League, the BBC and Sky, Arsenal women's team has seen a 62% increase in turnover. Having held four matches at the Emirates Stadium last season, the revenue from matchdays also increased. 

There is no hiding from the fact that in all industries, not just the sports industry, revenue is usually the driving factor in setting employee salaries. These statistics show that investment in televising women's sport and in women's sport being held in bigger venues can result in large increases in profitability, which can in turn be used to raise the pay of players. In fact, following England's victory at the Euro Championship, Arsenal have played matches this season that have sold more than 50,000 tickets, in comparison to slightly more than 10,000 tickets last season. With the increasing interest in women's sport, there are great opportunities that are being seized by employers, and this in turn provides much better pay for players.

Moving forwards

Elite athletes often have the mentality of always moving forwards, and always improving. Employers should adopt the same mentality, not only to progress equality, but also to keep pace with the upward trajectory of women's sport, which may see some financial rewards. As seen from the case studies, investing in the visibility of women's sport can prove to be beneficial not just for employees, but also for the revenues of employers. This is a win-win situation that can only continue to develop the sporting landscape and keep talented sportswomen in their roles. 

Improving maternity policies also helps to incentivise talented sportswomen to remain in their roles or to return to their roles after pregnancies. This not only benefits employees, but also provides a very positive public image for employers who genuinely show support for normalising family life in sport. 

Employers could also go beyond policies by providing greater flexibility and opportunities for sportswomen to balance their family life with their jobs, such as assistance with childcare, or flexibility with some timings of training and recovery sessions where feasible.

If you would like to discuss anything in this article, or would like guidance from an employment perspective on policies, please contact a member of our team.