Tips For Dealing With Pregnancy And Maternity Leave In The Workplace
Becoming pregnant is a major life milestone every time it happens for a woman. You may be thrilled at the good news and excited to share your good fortune with others. While you may have many coworkers who will be supportive of you, some employers may not always be as happy about your pregnancy as you are. Luckily for you though, the law is almost always on your side in cases like this. If you want to prevent pregnancy discrimination in the workplace, here are some tips that might help you.
Announce You Are in Pregnant in Writing
You can get the jump on a potentially problematic boss by putting your pregnancy announcement in writing. You don't have to send an email to the entire staff but you can send a friendly email to your boss in which you state you are writing because you want clarification on the company's maternal leave program. You can also simply ask if there actually is a maternal leave program if you are not sure. Putting it in writing (and requesting a read receipt) will give make it clear that your employer was on notice about your pregnancy from a specific date.
Research Your State
It is illegal for your employer to fire you simply because you are pregnant. But your specific state may have a law that goes into even more detail about what a future mother's rights are in the workplace while pregnant. WorkplaceFairness.org is a non-profit website that can serve as a great resource for what your specific state says about pregnancy in the workplace.
Save All Future Communication and Object When Needed
Once you are on maternity leave, hopefully, you'll just be able to focus on your pregnancy. Unfortunately, some employers don't always play along with the concept of maternity leave. If you feel your bosses are making requests of you even while you're gone or you are being targeted during a "downsizing" or "restructuring" while you are gone, you need to speak up and save all documentation and communication between you and your boss.
Hire a Pregnancy Discrimination Attorney
If you catch even a whiff of your boss or employer saying or doing something in regards to your pregnancy that makes you uncomfortable or is clearly a violation of state or national law, document the incident and then contact a pregnancy discrimination attorney. Sometimes all it takes is a phone call from a lawyer to get your company to change their tune. If the problem persists, you may be able to take legal action
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