Pregnancy at your work place

  How will pregnancy affect your work ?

You just found out that you’re pregnant. Congratulations! You want to shout it to the world. Walking into your business at work, you’re about to tell everyone. Suddenly, you stop. The thought goes fleeting through your mind, Will the news effect my job? Will I be treated any differently? Maybe even discriminated against? Are your fears legitimate? According to the Equal Opportunities Employment Commission, there has been an increase of complaints; up 30% since 1991. Fortunately, U.S. Federal law protects you from pregnancy discrimination. The Pregnancy Discrimination Act, which was passed in 1978, prohibits discrimination based on pregnancy, childbirth, or related medical conditions. However, you must be able to provide evidence of mistreatments.

When should you tell your employer the good news? This will depend on your medical condition, potential workplace hazards, and your plans. The Family and Medical Leave Act (U.S) has given pregnant women who are employed with fifty or more people the right to take a combination of paid and unpaid leave equaling twelve weeks to care for a newborn. The act also gives employees the right to take time off for medical problems, (including pregnancy related), and to care for an ill family member. One option you may have available to you is to work from home. Many parents, both moms and dads, are doing this more and more. The rule of thumb is fifteen weeks before your baby is due, for telling employers of your pregnancy. Make sure you know your rights and review your company’s short-term disability and medical policies. Any time off must be paid at your normal rate of pay. It is unlawful for your employer to refuse to give you reasonable time off for ante-natal care or to pay you at your normal rate of pay.

When reviewing your rights, look for anything that strikes you as treating pregnancy as any different from any other short-term disability. Next, review your work performance since your last job evaluation, and especially since the time you became pregnant. You want to demonstrate two things: First, that you can and have done the job. Second, you want to pay attention so that when the employer starts to reduce your duties, you can document the change.

Your employer must carry out a risk assessment of your job to find any possible risks to you and your unborn child. These risks might be caused by: lifting or carrying heavy loads, standing or sitting for long periods, exposure to toxic substances, and long working hours. Your employer must then either remove the risks, or remove you from being exposed to it. If neither of these is possible, your employer should suspend you from work on full pay. It’s unlawful sex discrimination for employers to treat women less favorably because of their pregnancy, or because they take maternity leave. Such treatment includes: trying to cut your hours without permission, suddenly giving poor staff reports, giving you unsuitable work, making you redundant, treating days off due to pregnancy as a disciplinary issue.

If you need help, because you are not being treated fairly, contact The Advisory Conciliation and Arbitration Service (ACAS), or your local Citizen’s Advisory Bureau (CAB).

About the author:
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