Did you know that an employer cannot discriminate against you simply because you are pregnant? The Civil Rights Act of 1964 was enacted to help prevent discrimination because of reasons such as gender and race; later, the federal government added the Pregnancy Discrimination Act as an amendment to the Civil Rights Act.
Pregnancy discrimination might occur when someone makes a hiring, firing, promotion, benefits or other human resource decision based solely on the fact that a person is pregnant. An employer cannot refuse to offer work, fire you from work, reduce your pay or make other similar decisions simply because you are pregnant. You have to be given the same considerations given to any other employee or potential employee with equal capabilities and skills.
It is important to note that an employer is not going to be forced to hire someone who cannot perform a certain job, and they might have the legal ability to move workers to a different function if they can no longer perform the current job. For example, a pregnant woman is not supposed to do heavy lifting, which means an employer might move someone in a physical function to a different function, at least temporarily, if she is pregnant. In many cases, this is not discrimination.
However, if any employer moves a person to a different function and reduces the person’s pay simply because she is pregnant, that might be a basis for a discrimination complaint. If you think you are being discriminated against because you are pregnant, then speaking with a professional about the issue can help you understand your options. Our firm works with pregnant women to ensure their worker rights are maintained or that they can seek compensation if they were discriminated against.
