Legal Rights for a Single Parent in the Workplace
Single parents often face challenges in the workplace. They may not be able to work standard hours because of child-care demands and may have to take time off if a child is ill or seriously injured. Although it is not illegal as of 2011 to discriminate against single parents in most states, single parents retain a number of workplace rights.
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Pregnancy
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Parents.com reports that pregnant women have a number of workplace rights. It is illegal to refuse to hire a woman because she is pregnant or may become pregnant, and a woman cannot be fired because of her pregnancy. Pregnancy must be treated like a temporary disability; employers must give pregnant women leave once they are unable to work due to their pregnancy. However, employers cannot force a pregnant woman to take leave if she feels she is still able to work. These rights apply to single mothers as well as married ones.
No Anti-Discrimination Laws
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There are no federal laws prohibiting discrimination based on family status, according to Workplace Fairness. Thus, it is legal for an employer to discriminate in hiring or promoting single parents. However, employers may not discriminate based on sex. Therefore, if an employer schedules a single mother for longer hours than the men in her department, he could be sued for sex discrimination. As of 2011, Alaska and the District of Columbia have laws against discrimination based on family status.
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Religious Organizations
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Workplace Fairness reports that some courts have ruled that religious organizations may engage in practices such as firing single parents because of religious prohibitions against sex outside of marriage. However, these organizations must hold both men and women to the same standards -- i.e., both sexes must be fired for similar offenses. If the organization treats men and women differently, it may be liable for a sex discrimination lawsuit.
Workers' Schedules
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An employer may schedule another employee to work overtime to compensate for hours that a single parent cannot work due to child-care commitments or require another employee to cover the single parent's job while he picks up children from school or attends to other child-care issues. Workplace Fairness reports that these types of scheduling discrepancies are not considered discriminatory in most cases. Furthermore, employers are free to promote the worker who covers a single parent's shift during absences before the single parent.
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