Pregnancy and the workplace

[jenji]

I have a friend who recently found out she is pregnant.
She has a job where part of the job description is that she must be able to lift 35lbs. She has been to the doctor with a few problems already and the doctor told her she should be lifting no more than 25lbs. Her boss told her that her job description didn't change because she got pregnant.
This just sounds so wrong to me. Is there anyone out there who knows about laws for the workplace to protect pregnant women? She has worked at this job for YEARS and loves it, but she's worried about her health and her baby's because she is still being made to do heavy lifting and she can't quit because her health care is through her job and if she were to get a new job, her pregnancy costs wouldn't be covered.

thanks in advance for any input

[LeslieR]

I don't know about any laws, but I would think her dr could just write a note for her stating that she is pregnant and cannot lift anything over 25lbs and that should be the end of it.

[LRL]

Jenji-

Yikes, that sounds like a major HR issue- you might want to try posting this question for the ladies over in the HR thread.

[Reenie]

When I worked as a unit secretary in a hospital during college, the nurses and aides were expected to do heavy lifting (patient care), but if they were pregnant- totally exempt. I agree with what LeslieR said about the doctor's note. It's not like she's going to be pregnant forever; her boss will have to deal.

[lawyerlee]

If your friend's employer has more than 15 employees, she is covered by Title VII's pregnancy discrimination protections.

I would suggest you review this page from the EEOC website:

Pregnancy (http://www.eeoc.gov/types/pregnancy.html)

This portion might be especially relevant:


An employer may not single out pregnancy-related conditions for special procedures to determine an employee's ability to work. However, if an employer requires its employees to submit a doctor's statement concerning their inability to work before granting leave or paying sick benefits, the employer may require employees affected by pregnancy-related conditions to submit such statements.

If an employee is temporarily unable to perform her job due to pregnancy, the employer must treat her the same as any other temporarily disabled employee. For example, if the employer allows temporarily disabled employees to modify tasks, perform alternative assignments or take disability leave or leave without pay, the employer also must allow an employee who is temporarily disabled due to pregnancy to do the same.

Pregnant employees must be permitted to work as long as they are able to perform their jobs. If an employee has been absent from work as a result of a pregnancy-related condition and recovers, her employer may not require her to remain on leave until the baby's birth. An employer also may not have a rule that prohibits an employee from returning to work for a predetermined length of time after childbirth.

Employers must hold open a job for a pregnancy-related absence the same length of time jobs are held open for employees on sick or disability leave.

In other words, pregnancy is viewed as a temporary disability under the law and employers who must comply with Title VII are required to treat pregnant women exactly the same as they treat employees with a temporary disability.

Therefore, the question of what kind of accomodations your friend's employer must give her depends on what kind of accomodations the employer gives someone with a temporary disability. I would suggest you recommend she contact the local office of the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (the EEOC), which you can find on the website or in your local phone book, as well as the relevant state agency (it may be called the Department of Labor or something similar) for assistance with this matter if her employer puts up a road block on her attempts to find out how they handle temporarily disabled employees.

[jenji]

Leslie - thanks. She did get a note from her doctor but her company's policy is that you can only use a doctor's note for 8 weeks... and her manager isn't paying attention to that note anyway, she still makes her lift and carry heavy items

LRL - thanks for the suggestion

Reenie - I think that would be the case in most situations, her boss just seems to be ignoring the fact that lifting poses an actual threat to her pregnancy

Diana - thanks a million. I was trying to look on the Dept of Labor and Workforce Development site yesterday. her company is more than 15 people. it is a nationwide chain. thank you SO much.

[chefker]

her manager isn't paying attention to that note anyway, she still makes her lift and carry heavy items



Oh my gosh, this is disgusting. But sadly, not unheard of. :( I used to work for a MAJOR chain drug store....we had a supervisor trainee there who worked until she was about 8 1/2 months pregnant.

She was still required to unload the truck every week. I was new then, and had to watch the front of the store....otherwise I would have traded places with her myself! But the store manager would have been all pissy about that.

At one point she developed sciatic pain, and even had a doctor's note that she thought would excuse her from all the heavy lifting. Nope....the manager told her that because she was a PT employee, it didn't matter.

Now that I look back on that, I think what happened there was illegal (especially since this was a MAJOR corporation...). But I was 17 at the time, and afraid to speak up. :(

Good luck to your friend....I hope she is able to get her employer to cooperate.

[jenji]

Kerrie sounds like she's a lot like your co-worker then. she is still having to unload trucks of very large items. Maybe I'm just worrying about it too much for her :)

[camberne]

This was 13-1/2 years ago, but I was actually FIRED when I was 8-1/2 months pregnant for being pregnant!! The director of the program I worked for (was a reintegration program for severely mentally ill) thought that my pregnancy was disruptive to the clients. Since VA is a "right to work" state, I never thought I had any recourse. I worked a couple of assignments for a temp agency for the next few weeks.

I was actually fired on Valentine's Day by the director's assistant (who then threw me a baby shower - she felt horrible about it) because the director was too much of a prick to tell me himself. I had my son on March 10th. The director of that program had to work with me later because after I had my son, I was hired by another department of the same agency. Jerk.

[lawyerlee]

You're very welcome, jenji. :)


This was 13-1/2 years ago, but I was actually FIRED when I was 8-1/2 months pregnant for being pregnant!! The director of the program I worked for (was a reintegration program for severely mentally ill) thought that my pregnancy was disruptive to the clients. Since VA is a "right to work" state, I never thought I had any recourse. I worked a couple of assignments for a temp agency for the next few weeks.
That's awful, Alice. :(

Regardless of the state's laws, if the federal government provides protection against discrimination and your employer is covered, they can't get away with that shit. Unfortunately, too many employers will try because they know people aren't aware of their rights. It makes me *so* freaking mad. :mad:

[jenji]

It makes me *so* freaking mad. :mad:

good, then can you come yell at her employer for me?
I'm so upset about it because I know it's dangerous for her and her baby, but the problem is she doesn't really seem to realize that, so she just does what her boss says.
I mean yeah, she's tried to get her boss to stop assigning her to unload trucks, but when the boss says no, she just says ok

[isign]

I have a pregnacy related question. A friend of mine, K, who is due Aug 15th, was fired a few weeks ago from her fast food job. There was a small incident where they had her working late, and then scheduled for 12 hours the next day. She went to the asst manager asking for help in closing down things so she could leave. The asst manager didn't like this and told the boss. The boss fired K without even hearing her side, also saying that she was tired of hearing K complain about hurting when standing on her feet. She filed for unemployment but was denied because she was fired, and not just let go. Is this even legal?

[philnikki]

Are these people ANIMALS?? I mean, who in there right mind would require a pregnant woman to lift heavy objects??!! It just makes me so sick. There is a special place in h*ll for people like that!!

I had to quit my job as an auditor for a public company bc I had to travel to foriegn countries a lot and it was not recommended by my OB to do so. Instead of my company finding a position for me in their Finance dept (which they SO could have done), they just let me go. My boss was *very* angry at the powers that be, bc he knew I did a good job, but I think they didn't want someone with a kid on their Finance staff. Just so sad that this is the way the world treats pregnancy. And its not like its new or anything. Women have been having babies for some time now. Sheesh :rolleyes:

What's worse, is that in my situation, I was basically forced to leave my job (where i had accrued maternity leave) for another position. At my new job, I will *thank god* have some maternity leave, but I am not covered under the Family Medical Leave Act for job protection bc I have been here less than one year. So ladies, what does that tell ya?? The govt. says that if you are pregnant, and have to leave your job bc of your pregnancy, that they are not going to help you out at your new job. So basically, if you plan on having a family, you can't work at certain places and is the end result. *SO* terrible :(

Anyway -- enough of my rant. Just wanted to get that in there. Its been bugging me for some time now.

[jenji]

thanks to everyone who responded.
after some more issues, my friend's doctor found out she was still being required to do heavy lifting and the doctor wrote a very informative note to my friend's employer. she has a few more weeks of "light duty" work, then she will begin a partial pay maternity leave until she has her baby
finally!

[dionysia]

good, then can you come yell at her employer for me?
I'm so upset about it because I know it's dangerous for her and her baby, but the problem is she doesn't really seem to realize that, so she just does what her boss says.
I mean yeah, she's tried to get her boss to stop assigning her to unload trucks, but when the boss says no, she just says okJenji, you can report the activity to HR. In fact, I'd highly encourage you to do so.

Di

[dionysia]

I have a pregnacy related question. A friend of mine, K, who is due Aug 15th, was fired a few weeks ago from her fast food job. There was a small incident where they had her working late, and then scheduled for 12 hours the next day. She went to the asst manager asking for help in closing down things so she could leave. The asst manager didn't like this and told the boss. The boss fired K without even hearing her side, also saying that she was tired of hearing K complain about hurting when standing on her feet. She filed for unemployment but was denied because she was fired, and not just let go. Is this even legal?The legal issue then, would be, did she get fired because she is pregnant? Or due to not performing the required duties of the job?

That would be up to a court to decide.

I'd recommend she talks to her state Equal Employment Opportunity / anti-Discrimination board or Dept of Labor.

Di