Pregnant women are protected by state and federal laws. It can be hard to spot pregnancy discrimination in the workplace, but there are warning signs to watch for during employment that are red-flags for pregnancy discrimination. The main thing to lookout for is a definite change in the work atmosphere following pregnancy.
What Changes in the Workplace Can Mean Pregnancy Discrimination?
- Harassment: Has your boss or co-worker treated you unfairly, or made more crude jokes about you since you became pregnant? Being mean is not illegal, however when a protected class of individuals like pregnant women are being harassed, it can lead to breaking the law if it is serious enough.
- Increased negative feedback: If an employer suddenly starts criticizing your work much more frequently following pregnancy, or threatens to fire you for performance issues that simply aren’t true.
- Increased/decreased work load: Are you getting more menial tasks, or getting demoted following a pregnancy? This could be an attempt to get you to leave the company.
- Excluding of work-related activities: Are you not being invited to important meetings, or missing out on important company proceedings and promotional opportunities? Employers can use these tactics to keep you from advancing in the company.
- Denial of pregnancy leave: The California Family Rights Act allows employees to receive up to 12 weeks of pregnancy leave. Employees working at a company with more than 50 employees, who have worked at least 1,250 hours in the 12 months leading up to the leave request are eligible.
Employers also must grant leave to fathers who are eligible for leave under the Family and Medical Leave Act. If you have been treated negatively after your boss learned of you or your spouse’s pregnancy, your employer could be breaking the law.
Los Angeles pregnancy discrimination attorneys at Kesluk, Silverstein, Jacob & Morrison, P.C. are dedicated to reviewing your workplace practices to make sure protected groups are not being discriminated against.