Are women discriminated when they take maternity leave?

Question

I need facts and/or experiences for a speech

My sister in law is pregnant with twins and is o leave but is not being paid. The only support she has is from my brother. I am tryig to fight for paid leave where she could get paid becaue what if she wasnt married and/or didnthave anyone to depend for, what could she do. I need more ideas of how to put my speech together and he discrination ofprgnant women.

Answer 1

I do believe both sexes are discrimated with the taking of maternity leave. Is it a company's responsibility to fund the building of a family? What if the family decided to have 10 kids, is it the company's responsibility to finance a womans homelife?
My ex wife had three of our children while I worked for the current company, I work for. I was not paid for the time I spend away from work, 6 hours for my second son and 1 day for my first daughter. My ex was placed on maternity leave, without pay, but received her job back when she went back to work. As you can see, I was not having the baby, so, I was expected to be at work when my ex was not having our children. My second daughter was a little different, I was able to take off 3 days for her because my ex had problems two weeks after she was born. Now, take the two of the women, of three, in my office. The two of the women, of child bearing years, were given maternity leave, with pay. The youngest of the mothers had an extra three months on her last child on top of her maternity leave because of complications after childbirth. Treating employees fair, was it fair to give two of the three women paid leave to have children? The woman that did not have a child, did not get any time off, with pay. I, being the senior employee of the three women, received 4 and a half days, without pay, to be with my ex wife while she gave birth to 3 children. Where is the equality between men and women? Where is the equality between women who want to bare children and those that do not? I would not want to be a small business owner and have to choose to finance the building of a family or making money to keep the business afloat and provide livelyhoods for my other employees, while not offending other women employees, or male employees. You see, if the employer paid the maternity leave of an employee, the employer also has to pay for the replacement employee, while the employee is on maternity leave. The employer has to pay twice for something that is beyond their control and no way to recover costs, except to charge his customers more which in turn changes their marketability. Tough offense and defense. Good Luck!

Answer 2

I see both sides of this issue.

I will first give the opinion from the employers perspective:
As an employer who is wanting to hire the best, most reliable, and productive employees I can see how hiring a pregnant woman would necessarily be the first choice. They would need time off...plus paid time off...I (as an employer) am not going to benefit from that. I will have to pay someone to do no work for me. Then the child will need to go to the doctor or will be sick and my employee will be gone again. Pregnancy is not like cancer...that just happens by chance (unless you smoke or were exposed to something) but becoming pregnant was your choice. You need to decide what is more important, this job, or having a baby.

As a woman, I see that having a baby means a huge change in my life and I need a job and employer that understands my situation, and will help me and my family when we need it. I will be an excellent employee when I return to work. I am worth the time off...it is only 6 weeks. Now is the time I need the support the most.

I don't know that this can fall under discrimination...but it is an issue when employers are not family friendly. I think all employees work better when there is less stress from home and they feel supported at work in their whole lives.
Good Luck to you and your sister.

Answer 3

Paid maternity leave is a right not a perk. If women chose to stop bearing children, employers would not have a workforce in the future. To discriminate because women are biologically the ones who carry children is against the law in the UK and rightfully so. I know of cases of discrimination - some before the woman is employed where the employer will opt for an older woman or man who is unlikely to take maternity leave over a woman of child bearing age and some where they make things difficult when a pregnancy is announced by not doing the required health and safety checks, changing duties considered dangerous etc and also by making it awkward for them.

It should be borne in mind that women still fill the majority of part-time low paid jobs to juggle (which implies how hard it is) child caring and contributing to the family purse - part of this disparity is because women are to some extent 'punished' for having children - financially..

On an aside - when taking into account all the paid and unpaid work partners do - a woman still does 19 hours more work than her male counterpart a week too. Those who work part-time especially seem to over compenstate at home..

A male nurse for example earns 40% more at the end of his working career compared to his female colleague - due mainly to women still having to do the lion's share of child care/take maternity leave..

If your sister-in-law is in the UK get her along to the CAB - she has a very strong case.

Incidentally - anyone who thinks that maternity leave is 'time off' or a 'holiday' has obviously never been pregnant or had to care for a new born.

By arguing males should have equal time off is to not understand that women do not choose to be the ones who bear children any more than men do not choose to be the ones who don't..

Having children is necessary for all of us - it is not just a personal indulgence - person A might have no children but unless person B does then he/she will not have a Doctor, Fire Fighter etc etc so the argument can also run the other way - the men working along side the woman should see the bigger picture.. instead of whining..

Answer 4

I lost my job during a maternity leave about 11 years ago.
They hired someone to take my place "while I was gone".
When the time to come back came around, they said they didnt need me anymore. I called a lawyer, he said there was nothing I could do because at the time it was too small of a company. Had to have 10 or more employees within a 15 mile radius. Sometimes I do think they are.
However, I've had two other children since and had no problem whatsoever!1 Now I'm a stay at home mom!! Yea!
lol

Answer 5

Two thoughts, discrimination is a way of life. Practices must change, but people also must have the skills to overcome discrimination.There are many forms of discrimination and it's healthy for people to bring these social subjects to the surface of our thinking. That way society can progress. We become more sensitive and considerate for the melting pot of people, and their challenges.
Forget the women for a moment alright. Why don't people get things right? The focus is taken away from the infant and his needs. Maternity leave is for the infants. Wow, birth is a miracle and an infant is so small and needs the mother care for many months and society allows men to dictate the work schedule of a new mother.
Fathers should get paternity leave too. Dividing the work at home is important and it may allow the mother to attend to work on a part time basis, when she is ready.
Of course the mother has needs too. A woman is going through so much in the last weeks of pregnancy, (not to mention, but I will, complications), and how do women do it? I can't even imagine what it's like, (but I witnessed it three times and one cesarean, eeeh gadds).
The problem has economic considerations and I believe maternity leave should be subsidized by society so companies can manage financial losses due to absent parents.
I do believe companies should practice flexible scheduling with new parents and men should include female management in the decision process.

Answer 6

I wasn't this last time. (2 yrs ago) Granted I work in health care, but I did get one month paid maternity leave. I thought congress/or something was going to introduce some kind of bill that would grant women the right to take a month of maternity leave w/o fear of discrimination. And it shouldn't make any difference whether or not the woman is married!

Answer 7

You need to contact EEOC-agency that handles job discrimination to find out if there is a law that gives a woman maternity leave and if the employer is required to pay-for I believe a certain no of days are supposed to be paid but not a 100% sure. They will answer your question(no charge) for is a government agency-over the phone and depending on the answer will determine if there are any legal steps that your SISTER should take. My nephew's wife recently was on Maternity leave and she was paid for several weeks. I don't know if the payment is up to the individual employer but I do know its law that Maternity Leave cannot be denied not can the woman lose her job. The was recently also a law passed that the husband is also entitled to a certain time of maternity leave(to help wife and be able to take care of baby) under this new law but the company is not required legally to pay, but again can't be fired or lose job if husband requests and takes this time. So once you contact EEOC and find exactly what the law is that will also help your speech.

Answer 8

While women are allowed to leave their job for maternity leave.
The employer is not required to hold the job for the person on leave, nor are they required to pay them a salary while on leave, especially if the employer has to hire a replacement person to fill the position. Some employers requuire you to work for the company for a minimum of a year before you are able to leave on maternity leave. If you request leave before your 1 year, you would be terminated, because you havent served the company long enough and are not entitled to leave.

These are factors that need to be looked into at the time that you apply for the job. Some employers will hold the position, and pay you while they are paying someone else. These are large companies that have huge health benefit plans that allow them to do this.

You should expect that you will be given the same consideration the next time your up for promotion, since you cannot your leave time as part of your service to the company. There are other people that have made the decision not to have children so that they could continue working, and get the promotions.

There is not descriminatiion here. It sounds like you did not look into the specific benefits prior to applying for the job. The fact that you are married is irrellevant since unmarried women get maternity leave all of the time.

Answer 9

I have never known anyone who had paid maternity leave unless they had paid sick time or vacation time saved up beforehand. It is a shame considering it is a time of financial need, healing time, as well as time with the infant, where a mother's attention is SO CRUCIAL. An infants IQ and temperament depend on the mother's time. Though you cannot be fired for taking maternity leave, you can go broke!!! But many people feel you can only be one thing: a good employee or a good mother, not both. And without the help from employers, maybe this is sort of true. If they were more forward thinking and flexible, society would be better in future generations=Happier employees+higher productivity+smarter, happier babies+better future employees

Answer 10

In 1993 a law was passed, FMLA (family medical leave act) that job protects a person who has been w/ their company for a year to take a medical leave or maternity leave. It is unpaid in most states, however there are a few states that offer state disability and can get paid for approx. 6-8 weeks after a baby is born. New Jersey & New York are a couple. Look up their state and you may be able to get some information. Also, FMLA is also extended to Dad if he wants to take off to spend time with the baby. DOn't think you can call it discrimination- just part of life.

Answer 11

Why should a business pay for someone taking time off , NO MATTER WHAT THE REASON ? You get paid for working NOT FOR MAKING BABIES.
Women ARE indeed getting discriminated IN FAVOR OF because most men DO NOT get maternity leave.
About 30% of mothers use up all their sick and vacation time , leave the organization without needed personnel, and decide NOT to ever return.
I think WOMEN discriminate AGAINST businesses !

BOSCO