Would it surprise you to know that half of employers assess the chances of a female job candidate falling pregnant before recruiting her - is this something you have done yourself?

A survey of 1,100 company bosses and HR Managers carried out by the Employment Law Advisory Services (Elas) also found that 76% of this group would not take on a new recruit if they knew that she was going to fall pregnant within six months of joining the company. Only 5% of employers have taken someone on knowing that she was pregnant.

Peter Mooney head of consultancy Elas said that despite legislation preventing this direct line of questioning, "for most bosses it is down to the bottom line - a pregnant member of staff will cost money". But he warned that "a visit to the tribunal could be even more costly"