The thing is, even with her returning part-time, this needs to align with the needs of the business too. She can't choose to only work 8 hours because that's all she can cope with if they need her to work more hours than that. This is when discord between employer and employee starts to happen.

I went back to work 4 days a week after maternity leave and that meant I was ineligible to apply for positions where they needed someone there 5 days a week. I understand that. Some jobs can't be done part-time, or not enough gets done if it's done part-time.

I personally can't have someone only working 3 days a week but taking up a full-time position in my team. And I could not job share a position in my team because continuity of work is important. So if one of my team was to have a baby and only wanted to come back 3 days a week, I would be looking for them to be placed in an alternate position at the same pay/responsibilities that is NOT part of my team. But I could do that working in a big department. Not so easy when you're working for a small business.

And I'm all for mother's rights but this is where the issue becomes muddied. If mother's rights are upheld at the expense of a company's needs, then less employers will be willing to hire mothers. It's not about lack of empathy (for me anyway, I can't speak for your friend's employer) but about the right amount of resources for the job that needs to get done.

Having said that, when I eventually got a promotion, I worked from home the one day I wasn't in the office. Once that became untenable, I went back to work 5 days a week, because I had come to a fork in the road and had to make a decision. It's not easy being a working mother, and balancing home and work is incredibly difficult sometimes, but there are always two perspectives, and I guess it's important to see the other POV too.