Pregnancy Discrimination at work?

Question

I am a temp where i work at now however I only have 2 weeks untill the contract is up and the emplyer plans on hiring me on full time after that I have been working with the company for four mounths already, However I just found out I am pregnat, do I tell them now or wait untill I am officially hired on, I am worried that if I tell them know they will not hire me on as they have stated they will, if that happened would it be leagl

Answer 1

Wait until after you are hired. While it is illegal to discriminate against you fro being pregnant, discrimination is difficult and expensive to prove. The last thing you need to be doing while pregnant is fighting a court case. Bypass the whole issue. You are not required to disclose and they can not legally ask you.

They have no reason to know until you need to start scheduling the time off to deliver.

Answer 2

It's Called The Pregnancy Discrimination Act which modified Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 so that discrimination on the basis of pregnancy, childbirth, or related medical conditions is considered gender discrimination. The law guarantees equal treatment of disabilities, including pregnancy, birth or related disabilities for companies employing 15 or more people. An employer may not fire an employee because she is pregnant or force an employee to take maternity leave.

An employer cannot refuse to hire a woman because of her pregnancy related condition as long as she is able to perform the major functions of her job. An employer cannot refuse to hire her because of its prejudices against pregnant workers or the prejudices of co-workers, clients or customers.

You can find a copy of the Act here: http://www.davislevin.com/images/pdfs/vii.pdf

EDITED TO CLARIFY:
Many applications (and yes, going fulltime you will most likely have to complete a new application) ask if you have any dibilitating conditions for which the assigned tasks will need accommodations.

If you answer no and then later need such an accommodation because of your pregnancy you can be fired for not disclosing such fact.

Whether or not you tell them is up to you. Whether you are covered by the above Act is up to your employer's size.

However, if you hide a material fact and are later found out, you have given the employer grounds to legally fire you.

Just so you know the ramifications of some answers given here.

Answer 3

Revision: it is illegal to not hire a woman because she is pregnant. However, it is NOT illegal to fire a woman after her leave, the company is not required to hold a job.

I would keep my mouth shut and then tell them long after your hire date, like 90 days past hire.

Just keep in mind that you are NOT covered by the FMLA in your present situation. To be covered you have to work 12 full months prior (temp doesn't count as your check comes from a different company), and be employed by a company with more than 50 employees within 50 miles.

Sorry, hopefully your company is one of the exceptions that treat employees better than the law makes them.

Congrats on the pregnancy and good luck with the perm job.

Finally, the economy is tanking (contrary to the "experts" opinions) and you may not be hired just because the company may not be hiring by the end of the month. Do yourself a favor and don't tell.

Answer 4

Tn is a "Hire at will state" that means they can chose to hire or fire you at their discretion.
You have to look at this through the eyes of your employer-as an employee you aren't going to do him any good out on maternity leave- why should he hire you?
I would wait until I was hired on to tell them personally.
FMLA (Family Medical Leave Act) which allows for 12 weeks unpaid leave won't apply to you until you have been a full time employee for more than 6 months and only then if your employer has more than 50 employees.
You had better figure out what you are going to do about health insurance as well- find out about your assignments benefit package .

Answer 5

That depends on your comfort level and how much you trust your employer. Since you are asking the question, I am assuming that you cannot trust your employer not to discriminate. While it is unfortunate and illegal, many employers do still discriminate against pregnant women. I would only tell them now if you have a need to (ie to take off time for doctor's appointments etc.). If you tell them and they do not hire you, you could take them to court to try to prove discrimination because it is illegal, but the burden of proof would be on you to show that they discriminated and sometimes that can be hard to prove.

Answer 6

Hmm. Tough call.

They could legally decide at any time not to hire you, so there is a school of thought that would say tell them after you are hired.

On the other hand, I would go ahead and tell them. I mean, if they won't hire you because you are pregnant, would you even want to work for them? How understanding do you think they could be when you have a sick kid?

Answer 7

There is a law called the "Pregnancy Decrimination Law" that covers such situation, however, I think you have to be an employee of your company at least 12 months before it takes affect. Call it up on the internet for more info.

Answer 8

I would not tell them at this juncture that you are pregnant. It is actually none of their business. To not hire you because of your pregnancy is discrimination, however, they could come up with other reasons not to hire you and be legal that way. If you want the job, I would wait.

Answer 9

Hi,do not tell them.Congratulations.

Answer 10

As longest you are not planing to work for Hooters, keep it quite