Knowing your rights and a few simple tips can help you avoid or combat pregnancy discrimination in the workplace.
If you’re a working woman and your pregnancy test just came back positive, you may wonder what will change at your workplace. Will more or less be expected of you? How long will you be able to take for maternity leave? And will your job be waiting for you when you return? Sadly, pregnancy discrimination exists even today and even in supposedly “family-friendly” workplaces, so it is important for pregnant workers to know their rights.
Two federal laws help to control pregnancy discrimination. One is the Pregnancy Discrimination Act of 1978. This law will protect a pregnant woman from being discriminated against based on pregnancy, childbirth or related medical conditions. Employers must treat pregnant women as they would any other worker with a medical condition or disability. However, this law does not protect you if your pregnancy symptoms prevent you from doing a satisfactory job. If you are unable to work because of your pregnancy symptoms, your employer may be able to put you on unpaid leave or even fire you.
The second law is the Family Medical Leave Act of 1993 (FMLA). This law only protects those who work at a company or public agency with more than 50 employees working within a 75-mile radius. If you do work for such a company, and you have worked there for at least a year and at least 1,250 hours during that year, you are eligible to take 12 weeks of unpaid leave during your pregnancy and for child care each year that you are employed. You must give your employer thirty days’ notice before taking your leave, unless you experience complications or early delivery.
Although the leave is unpaid, under FMLA, your employer must continue to provide you with all the benefits you are entitled to – including health insurance – and must also return you to your position or an equivalent position upon your return, with equal pay and benefits. Certain women may be excluded from FMLA protection, such as key employees in the company’s top 10% compensation bracket ; however, this generally applies to executives.
Since neither of these federal acts provides for financial support during maternity leave, some states offer “temporary disability insurance.” This insurance provides workers with partial pay during time taken off for childbirth and other temporary medical disabilities. (For example, in New York, women can collect partial wages for six weeks while on maternity leave.) Pregnant workers should check to find out if this insurance is available in their state. (If so, it is a good idea to go ahead and collect any claim forms you will need to submit, as well as information about where to submit them. Having all the necessary paperwork in advance will help you to collect your payments much more easily after you have your baby!)
All laws aside, you may still experience subtle discrimination in the workplace unless you know how to anticipate and combat it. Before you tell your boss (or any coworkers) your happy news, it is a good idea to have a plan for when you return to work (and an even better idea to have your plan in writing). The plan should include, for example, how long you would like to take for maternity leave and whether you are willing to come back sooner if you can work reduced hours. Leave room for negotiation, and your boss will be more likely to make compromises in your favor.
Finally, one of the best things a pregnant worker can do to combat discrimination is to keep doing her job to the best of her ability, without expecting any special treatment from coworkers or from the boss. It is important not to use your pregnancy as an excuse for poor job performance, and try your best to compensate in areas where you think you might be slipping. If pregnancy makes you more prone to be absent-minded, for instance, use a daily planner and detailed to-do lists to keep your work on track and prevent important tasks from slipping through the cracks.
With a little extra effort on your part and a full knowledge of your rights, you can effectively combat pregnancy discrimination and continue to enjoy your job.
By Natalie Cooper
