About Pregnancy Discrimination
Pregnancy discrimination occurs when an employer treats a pregnant employee differently or unfairly because that employee is pregnant. Once upon a time, employers were free to discriminate on the basis of pregnancy. However, U.S. federal law now prohibits employers from making employment decisions based on pregnancy. Pregnancy discrimination can take many forms, not just termination.
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History
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In 1964, Congress and the president took a major step toward protecting employee rights when they enacted the Civil Rights Act of 1964. The Civil Rights Act protected employees from discrimination on the basis of gender, race, religion, color and national origin. A few years later, Congress and the president added an amendment to the act to protect against pregnancy discrimination. That amendment is called the Pregnancy Discrimination Act.
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The Pregnancy Discrimination Act applies only to companies with at least 15 employees. Importantly, though, the act does apply to employers who are state or local government agencies. For example, if you work for a city that has 20 employees, the Pregnancy Discrimination Act protects you. But if you work for a private business that has 11 employees total, the Pregnancy Discrimination Act does not provide you any rights.
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Types
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Discrimination is not a one-size-fits all definition. Instead, discrimination can occur in many different forms or settings. Discrimination can occur if you apply for a job and the potential employer rejects your application because you are pregnant. Or, discrimination can occur if your employer finds out you are pregnant and immediately fires you. Discrimination can also be more subtle, such as diminishing your pay, reducing your job responsibilities, or refusing to promote you because you are pregnant.
Identification
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Discrimination means your employer treats you differently because you are pregnant. If your employer doesn't know you are pregnant, there is no way you can prove pregnancy discrimination, even if you can prove your employer treated you unfairly. The unfair treatment has to be a direct result of your pregnancy, which means your employer treated you that way only because you are pregnant. This important distinction can be very difficult to identify.
Time Frame
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Pregnancy discrimination can also take place if an employer requires you to take a certain amount of time off. For example, if your employer has a policy that requires, say, two months of maternity leave, then your employer probably has discriminated against you. Similarly, an employer cannot require you to take time off before you have the baby.
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References
- Photo Credit baby image by Olberto Mejia. from Fotolia.com
