Introduction
Most women are bound to get pregnant at some point in their lives. Therefore, it is of great importance to provide protection for them against discrimination before, during and after pregnancy. Pregnant women who are employed are often susceptible to discrimination. Pregnancy discrimination can be described as discrimination against women who are pregnant, have undergone childbirth, or have a pregnancy-related medical condition (Pedriana, 2009). It might be manifested in the form of denial of time off, denial of reasonable accommodation, firing or demotion, forced time off, restrictions on work, and any other negative actions by an employer due to an employee’s pregnancy.
The Pregnancy Discrimination Act of 1978 is an amendment of the Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 that was enacted to give protection to pregnant employees against malicious employers or potential employers. Prior to this enactment, the Supreme Court had dealt with a number of cases that dealt with discrimination of employed pregnant women. The cases and the controversy of the judgments passed by the Supreme Court demonstrated a need for statutory protections for pregnant women from work-related discrimination (Griffith, 2014). The Act prevents the discrimination against women for any reason whatsoever by employers. Similarly, the Pregnancy Discrimination Act can be applied to political and social institutions such as state, federal or local governments, labor organizations, and employment agencies.
Despite the amendment being passed over thirty years ago, cases of pregnancy discriminations still exist. It is probably due to stereotypes about pregnant women and the failure of some courts to read the Pregnancy Discrimination Act narrowly and therefore limiting its protection of pregnant employees (Kenney & Martin, 2013).
Examples of Violation of the Act
Denial of Jobs
One example of a violation of the Pregnancy Discrimination Act is a refusal to employ a pregnant woman due to her current condition. Refusal to hire a pregnant woman can also be due to prejudices of co-workers, clients and customers. The Act clearly states that it is inappropriate and illegal to deny a pregnant woman a job as long as she still retains the ability to carry out her duties as the job demands. It also requires that non-discriminative behavior against pregnant women should cover other aspects of employment such as pay, promotions, job assignments, training, fringe benefits, layoffs, firing, and many other aspects ("Facts About Pregnancy Discrimination", n.d.).
It is paramount that pregnant employees and other temporarily disabled employees be treated with equal measure. Equality is especially important when it comes to crediting seniority, promotions, pay raises, vacation allocation and disability benefits
Denial of Pregnancy and Maternity Leave
Another violation of the Pregnancy Discrimination Act can occur in the form of denial of pregnancy and maternity leave. Once employed, pregnant women should have equal access to benefits and medical leave as other employees. While on leave, she should be granted the same leave benefits.
Singling out of an employee on the basis of her pregnant condition for medical procedures to determine her ability to do her job is not allowed. That can only be acceptable if the employer usually requires all his employees to submit doctors’ statements concerning their reported difficulty to perform their allocated jobs, before being granted leave or sick benefits.
Pregnant employees should be allowed to continue working for as long as they deem possible and can perform their jobs. Employers cannot force leave on a pregnant employee, neither can they prohibit the employee from going back to work for a given period after giving birth. In the case that the pregnant employee finally takes leave, her job should be held open for the same duration, just like other employees on disability or sick leave ("Facts About Pregnancy Discrimination", n.d.).
Employers are also required to provide disability and sick leave to women who had undergone an abortion, or are recovering from it. Benefits should also not be just limited to those who are married (Greenwald, 2012).
Denial of Health Insurance
Denial of access to health insurance for pregnancy-related medical conditions is a grave infringement of the Pregnancy Discrimination Act. The Act requires all employers to cover expenses of pregnancy and its related conditions just like other medical conditions. However, insurance for expenses as a result of intentional abortion is not a must unless the mother’s life is in danger or if she has had medical complications arising from the abortion (Barnard & Rapp, 2005).
Expenses relating to pregnancy should be paid in the same way as expenses for other medical conditions. Additional or large deductible costs must not be imposed just because the employee had a pregnancy related condition.
Unfavorable Working Conditions
In case an employee is temporarily not able to work efficiently due to pregnancy, the employers are required to treat her as they would treat other employees with similar disabilities. For example, the employee can be given lighter duties, modified for tasks, assigned alternative tasks, or granted disability leave. Refusal to do so would amount to a violation of the Pregnancy Discrimination Act. An employer also has to grant a reasonable accommodation for disabilities associated with pregnancy ("Facts About Pregnancy Discrimination", n.d.).
References
Barnard, T. H., & Rapp, A. L. (2005). Impact of the Pregnancy Discrimination Act on the Workplace-From a Legal and Social Perspective, The. U. Mem. L. Rev., 36, 93.
Facts About Pregnancy Discrimination. Eeoc.gov. Retrieved 3 May 2016, from https://www.eeoc.gov/eeoc/publications/fs-preg.cfm
Greenwald, J. (2012). Pregnancy Discrimination Act Violated When School Fires Teacher for Premarital Pregnancy. Workforce.com. Retrieved 3 May 2016, from http://www.workforce.com/articles/pregnancy-discrimination-act-violated-when-school-fires-teacher-for-premarital-pregnancy
Griffith, V. (2014). JURIST - History of the Pregnancy Discrimination Act. Jurist.org. Retrieved 3 May 2016, from http://www.jurist.org/feature/2014/12/background-for-pda.php
Kenney, C. & Martin, E. (2013). The Pregnancy Discrimination Act at 35: The Need to Restore and Reinvigorate the Pregnancy Discrimination Act - NWLC. NWLC. Retrieved 3 May 2016, from http://nwlc.org/pregnancy-discrimination-act-35-need-restore-and-reinvigorate-pregnancy-discrimination-act/
Pedriana, N. (2009). Discrimination by Definition: The Historical and Legal Paths to the Pregnancy Discrimination Act of 1978. Yale JL & Feminism, 21, 1.
