Two in three UK bosses do not expect female workers to return to work following maternity leave, according to research from Reabur.com.

Almost half (47%) of those surveyed attributed this to ‘previous experience’.

Kirsty Burgess, co-managing director of Reabur.com, says: “It is interesting to see that even though an employee may say that she wants to return to work after having a baby, employers don’t necessarily believe her.

“This is a personal decision for an individual to make, and employers need to be really careful about making assumptions — if that message gets back to the employee they could find themselves defending a discrimination claim.”