BWSC branch secures big win on improving maternity pay and pension contributions

Prospect’s BWSC branch has successfully negotiated significant improvements to maternity pay, and also on maintaining employer pension contributions during any statutory pay period, as part of concerted efforts with the employer to make the energy sector more attractive for women.

Prospect achieved recognition in 2025 with BWSC, a Danish company that provides specialised services in the operation and maintenance of power plants, after a pay issue saw a surge in membership.

During further conversations with BWSC’s human resources team, Prospect has been discussing ideas to help attract more women into the industry, and the idea of improving maternity pay and leave was one area that we believed may help.

The BWSC HR representative took it to the business to ascertain if this was something they would be willing to offer and BWSC, to their credit, saw it as a great opportunity.

Due to these discussions, from 1st January, all maternity pay has been increased from the basic statutory entitlement to 6 months’ full pay.

Prospect also asked if BWSC could take a further step in committing to maintaining their employer pension contributions, currently at 6%, at the same levels during any statutory pay period, to help with the issues identified in Prospect’s gender pension pay gap report.

BWSC took this away and have recently confirmed this would be something they will now offer going forward.

This is just the latest development in a strong relationship that Prospect has been able to establish with BWSC since recognition last year. There have been several positive results for members, most notably the first pay negotiation which resulted in an improved pay award in 2026 of up to 5.5%.

Michael Bell, Prospect‘s Negotiations Executive, who looks after the branch said, “This is a great step forward for employees of BWSC, and I am incredibly happy with the result. We are building a very positive relationship with BWSC, and they are trying to address some historic issues which is what had initially led to members joining us.

“We are continuing to work together with BWSC on what other benefits can be implemented and hopefully building the relationship further to other sites across their fleet in the UK.”