Telling Your Employer About Your Pregnancy
When you are pregnant, you may wonder when and how you are going to tell your employer. The fact is under the Pregnancy Discrimination Act, and other laws against discrimination, you do not have to tell your employer at all. If you can perform your work and do it well, and do not need special accommodations, your pregnancy is legally irrelevant.
The Pregnancy Discrimination Act
The Pregnancy Discrimination Act prohibits employers with more than 15 employees from discriminating against pregnant employees.It also includes local and state government employees, federal employees, employment agency employees and labor organization employees no matter how many employees they have.
Pregnancy Discrimination and Benefits Employers must provide the same benefits to all their employees whether they are pregnant or not. This includes health insurance, retirement and disability benefits. Medical conditions related to pregnancy must be covered identically to other medical conditions.Pregnancy Discrimination and Disability If a pregnant woman can do her job for a while due to a medical condition related to her pregnancy or childbirth, the employer must treat it like any other temporarily disabled employee. This means that the employer must make accommodations or provide disability leave.More Rules on Pregnancy Discrimination
- A potential employer may not ask a pregnant job candidate any questions they would not ask a candidate that was not pregnant.
- An employer may not discriminate against an employee who might get pregnant.
- An employer may not forbid a pregnant employee from doing a job for which she is fit and she wants to do.
- Jobs must be held open for pregnancy related absence for the same amount of time as for other sickness and disability.
- Employers cannot discriminate against an employee who has had an abortion or is considering getting an abortion.
- Female spouses of male employees must be provided the same level of medical benefits than the male spouses of female employees.
- Single women must be provided the same pregnancy related benefits as married women.
- Seniority, vacation, raises, promotions and other accrued benefits for pregnant women must be granted in the same way as those on leave for non-pregnancy reasons.
If you believe you may have been a victim of pregnancy discrimination due to pregnancy, childbirth or a pregnancy related medical condition, you should consult with an employment attorney as soon as possible. A reputable employment discrimination lawyer will listen to your situation and educate you on the pregnancy discrimination laws. If you have been a victim of pregnancy discrimination an experienced employment attorney can help you recover any damages you have incurred.
