Being pregnant while working comes with many challenges. Although we have progressed in many ways as a society in recent decades, it is natural if you still worry about telling your employer you are pregnant and what will happen if you do.
Sadly, mothers can still face pregnancy discrimination in the workplace. This type of discrimination is particularly difficult because it affects both you and your unborn child.
Your rights as a pregnant worker under the law
You have rights as a pregnant worker under several different laws. The first is the Pregnancy Discrimination Act which protects you from discrimination based on a current, past or potential pregnancy, a medical condition involving pregnancy or your choices regarding abortion or birth control.
Additionally, the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act requires your employer to provide you with reasonable accommodation for your pregnancy or health conditions related to your pregnancy.
To receive reasonable accommodation, you must tell your employer about your pregnancy related limitations and the accommodation must not cause your employer undue hardship. If they know about your request and ignore it or deny it could be pregnancy discrimination.
A key point about reasonable accommodation is that your employer cannot deny your request just because it will cause them hardship or inconvenience.
Nearly every accommodation for an employee causes some type of hardship for an employer. They can only deny the accommodation if it causes an undue hardship, meaning it will require significant expense or difficulty.
You may want to assert these rights but be unsure if what you are experiencing is pregnancy discrimination. Here are some signs to look for.
Overt signs of pregnancy discrimination
Being denied a promotion or a raise is an overt sign of pregnancy discrimination, especially if you regularly received raises in the past.
Your employer may be unsure if you will want to keep working or work as much after your child is born and be hesitant to offer you a promotion that comes with additional job duties. However, this is a sign of pregnancy discrimination.
Employers have a duty to provide equal training and development opportunities to everyone. When you find yourself being left out of meetings, training or professional development opportunities after becoming pregnant, you might be a victim of pregnancy discrimination.
Negative comments about your pregnancy or being a mother can be considered pregnancy discrimination. The comments do not necessarily need to be demeaning or insulting. Even inappropriate jokes can be discriminatory.
Subtle signs of pregnancy discrimination
Pregnancy discrimination is not always obvious. You might face subtle but unreasonable changes in your job duties or responsibilities. Being given additional work or assignments that are outside of your job description could be a sign of discrimination.
Your employer may also start becoming rigid and inflexible with time off. Pregnant mothers typically need more time off to attend doctor or pregnancy-related appointments. A sudden denial of time off requests from a previously flexible employer is a red flag.
It is important to recognize the signs of pregnancy discrimination and know your rights as an employee. Speaking up against pregnancy discrimination is the first step towards stopping this illegal behavior.
If you file a complaint of pregnancy discrimination and face any of these above consequences, you could now also have a complaint for retaliation.
Knowing if you have a case for pregnancy discrimination or retaliation is not always clear. Obtaining advice and guidance before moving forward is best.