Pregnant women have major expenses ahead of them. Childbirth and postpartum care often result in substantial medical bills. Additionally, they may require time off work to bond with their newborn child and heal after delivery. Raising a child to adulthood is also very expensive.
Many pregnant women want to continue working throughout their pregnancies and may plan to return to their jobs as soon as possible after taking leave. Sometimes, women who are trying to work through their pregnancies experience discrimination. Employers may try to make working miserable or dangerous so that pregnant women quit their jobs.
Pregnant women may need support at work
Every pregnancy is different from the next. Women may remain healthy and active for all 40 weeks of one pregnancy but develop major medical complications that limit their ability to work in a subsequent pregnancy.
Pregnant employees generally have the right to request reasonable accommodations from their employers to ensure they can work safely throughout their pregnancies. Changes in job responsibilities, a transition to temporary work-from-home arrangements or standing permission to take additional breaks to rest could all be necessary to ensure the health of the pregnant woman and her unborn child.
Most employers can provide those accommodations without much, if any, issue for the business. Companies that refuse to offer reasonable and medically necessary accommodations to pregnant employees may do so to try to force them to choose between their health and their profession. The goal may be to force the woman to quit her job.
Employees experiencing pregnancy discrimination in the form of denied accommodation requests may need help holding their employers accountable. Documenting the company’s conduct and reviewing communications with an attorney can help employees fight back against unlawful pregnancy discrimination in the workplace.