How to Avoid Pregnancy Discrimination – Dismissal for reasons related to pregnancy, childbirth or maternity is automatically unfair. To avoid pregnancy discrimination, employers should develop a policy against discrimination and provide employees and supervisors with training so that pregnant employees receive fair and equal treatment. Further, an employer needs to understand that it is required to treat pregnant employees the same as other similarly situated non-pregnant employees.
In fact, pregnancy discrimination claims are among the fastest-growing types of discrimination charges being filed against employers. Between 1992 and 2003, complaints of pregnancy discrimination filed with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) increased by over 39%.
Most employers know that they cannot discriminate against a pregnant woman based on her condition. This may make employers even more wary about the right way to manage pregnant employees during a genuine redundancy situation. In fact the rules, as set out in Acas guidance, are relatively straightforward. The key principle is that a woman should not be disadvantaged because she is pregnant or on maternity leave.
Key Point on How to Avoid Pregnancy Discrimination
- In order to prevent pregnancy discrimination, an employer should develop and implement a policy prohibiting discrimination against pregnant women in accordance with the Pregnancy Discrimination Act and Title VII and various state and local laws.
- Employers should provide training to all supervisors and employees that pregnancy discrimination is strictly prohibited and make sure that pregnant employees receive fair and equal treatment in the workplace.
- Employers should provide training to all supervisors and employees that pregnancy discrimination is strictly prohibited and make sure that pregnant employees receive fair and equal treatment in the workplace.
- Employers should make sure that pregnant employees receive proper leave time if required under federal and state disability laws as well as family and medical leave laws.
- It is best practice for an employer to provide reasonable accommodations to pregnant employees if doing so is feasible.
Conclusion : Pregnancy discrimination, as with other types of discrimination, is a complicated concern that every employer must face. Employers who fail to handle the situation properly can leave themselves vulnerable to significant monetary liability. Therefore, employers who are unsure of how to handle pregnancy-related problems should always consult legal counsel before taking any action.
I hope this short reviews on how to avoid pregnancy discrimination may be a consideration especially for the employers.
References :
- How to Avoid Pregnancy Discrimination : alliance1.org/magazine/issue1-2013/how-avoid-pregnancy-discrimination
- Pregnancy Discrimination: A Growing Cause of Concern for Employers : .lorman.com/resources/pregnancy-discrimination-a-growing-cause-of-concern-for-employers-15846
- Prevent Pregnancy Discrimination : xperthr.com/tasks/prevent-pregnancy-discrimination/8177/
- Avoiding pregnancy discrimination during redundancies : cipd.co.uk/pm/peoplemanagement/b/weblog/archive/2014/03/17/avoiding-pregnancy-discrimination-during-redundancies.aspx
- Image: nytimes.com
Article publié pour la première fois le 24/09/2015