Pregnant workers are facing discrimination on a routine basis, according to a new report released today by the National Women’s Law Center (NWLC) and A Better Balance (ABB). It Shouldn’t Be a Heavy Lift: Fair Treatment for Pregnant Workers shows that many employers are refusing to make basic accommodations that they routinely give workers with disabilities or on-the-job injuries.
Three-quarters of women entering the labor force will be pregnant and employed at some point in their lives. While many women will work through their pregnancies with no need for changes in their jobs, others will need temporary adjustments to job rules or duties as a result of pregnancy—such as taking additional bathroom breaks, being allowed to sit instead of stand, or honoring a lifting restriction.
The report describes how pregnant workers—especially those who work in low-wage jobs or jobs traditionally held by men—are all too often fired or forced to take unpaid leave when they request these kinds of temporary, reasonable modifications to job duties so they can continue working. Because some employers misunderstand and ignore their legal obligations to make the same types of accommodations for pregnant women that they do for other similarly situated workers, such as those with disabilities, too many women—including food service workers, home health aides and nurses, package handlers, cashiers, cleaners, police officers, mail carriers and office clerks—are denied simple accommodations when they face a conflict between their duties at work and the physical requirements of pregnancy.
Almost nine out of ten (88 percent) first-time mothers who worked while pregnant worked into their last two months of pregnancy in 2006-2008, and more than eight out of ten (82 percent) worked into their last month of pregnancy.
Read the individual stories featured in the report:
- Guadalupe Hernandez’s Story
- Natasha Jackson’s Story
- Amy Crosby’s Story
- Diana Teigland’s Story
- Yvette’s Story
- Hilda Guzzman’s Story
- Peggy Young’s Story
- Svetlana Arizanovska’s Story
Chosen excerpts by Job Market Monitor
Job Market Monitor 
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