Recently, I was reminded of a common worry young women have actually once applying for a brand-new position. A client, regarding to fly to the West Coast to interview for a C-Suite role, asked me: “Can easily I remove my wedding band for the interview? This 30-something executive was worried the odds would certainly be stacked versus her if the prospective employer caught also a whiff she might come to be pregnant.
Employees are not needed to disclose post relating to pregnancy, family or marital status, either to a current employer or throughout task interviews. If an employer denies a prospective employee a task or terminates an employee as a result of pregnancy, it will certainly be liable to pay loss pursuant to human rights codes, permit alone prospective punitive and various other loss in a case.
Andrea Szabo was hired by Cindy Dayman in June 2012 to perform household cleansing tasks for various clients. Szabo became pregnant soon after being hired yet concealed it from her employer. Between September and November, she asked to leave job early to attend book monthly medical examinations related to her pregnancy, just telling her employer the appointments were medical. Dayman accommodated Szabo’s requests in September and October. After notifying Dayman regarding the absences requested for November 2012, Szabo was asked to finish a form that asked questions related to her health, including whether she was pregnant. just after that did she admit to it.
She was fired almost immediately. Dayman cited a negative performance review and bad performance, including Szabo’s aggressive and uncooperative attitude, a customer complaint and her inconsistent schedule.
The Manitoba Human Rights Commission paid that little heed, finding Szabo was discriminated versus on the basis of sex. The commission awarded her $5,000.
Despite this and similar decisions, the helpful implications of pregnancy remains. And the law of unintended consequences prevails such that, in an era where employers routinely vet employees along with Internet searches, this, now public, decision might well impede, seemingly litigious Szabo’s re-employment efforts.
Here are some helpful pointers for pregnant women in the workplace:
Consider disclosing your pregnancy early Employers have actually a duty to accommodate pregnancies offered they have actually knowledge of it. The earlier you disclose your pregnancy, the a lot more time the 2 you and your employer have actually to produce a strategy to control workload, medical appointments and strategy for your maternity leave. It is a little enjoy a union organizing drive. It is considerably less complicated to delivering an unfair labour technique claim by a dismissed employee if they disclosed they were signing up cards compared to if they concealed it then asked the labour board to intuit that the employer knew after they were fired.
If interviewing for a promotion, attend along with a plan Starting a brand-new placement throughout a pregnancy will certainly be interrupted by maternity leave, no matter exactly how brief. Come to an interview equipped along with a strategy to control the challenges of the brand-new role prior to and after your maternity leave;
Determine the length of your leave and adhere to it Offer your employer a concrete time line that you strategy to stick to. Underestimating exactly how considerably time you might demand Can easily leave your employer in the lurch. Employers appreciate certainty.
Work along with your employer on the hand-over Engage your employer and your alternative prior to your maternity leave. Set clear expectations, manageable targets and instructions for the employee(s) assigned to your workload to make certain your leave is as seamless as possible.
Howard Levitt is senior partner of Levitt LLP, employment and labour lawyers. He practises employment law in eight provinces. Employment Law Hr along with Howard Levitt airs Sundays at 1 p.m. on NEWSTALK 1010 in Toronto.
