Basic Rights of Pregnant Women

In California, pregnancy discrimination is another form of sex discrimination. According to California statute, women have four months of pregnancy leave and are entitled to certain office accommodations for the pregnancy. Yet, depending upon certain circumstances exclusive to the employer, such as the size of the business, these rights may differ.

Pregnant women have the rights to be treated equally and the same with other employees who are not pregnant as long as they are capable of doing their jobs very well and their tasks do not endure harm to the baby that they carry in their womb.

Thus, the Pregnancy Discrimination Act (PDA) or the amended Title VII of the Civil Rights of 1964 states that discrimination on the grounds of pregnancy, childbirth or other related medical conditions represents unlawful sex discrimination. Therefore, women affected by pregnancy or related conditions must be treated in the same manner as other applicants or employees with similar capabilities.

If you believe you have been a victim of pregnancy discrimination, you got to know a lot about the pros and cons regarding your pregnancy rights. Pregnant women are protected with the following employment processes (Basic Rights under the Pregnancy Discrimination Act of 1978):

• Hiring. An employer cannot refuse to hire a pregnant individual and deprive her from working. As long as she is capable of performing her jobs, she is entitled to equality in the policies imposed by the company and fair considerations of the employer.

• Pregnancy and Maternity Leave. The employer should permit a leave to the pregnant employee as soon as needed without threatening her on the possibility of losing the job.

• Health Insurance. Any health insurance provided by an employer must cover expenses for pregnancy related situations on the same basis as costs for other medical conditions. Pregnancy related expenses should be refunded accurately as those incurred for other medical conditions. The amounts to be paid by the insurance provider can be limited only to the same level as costs for other conditions. No additional, increased or larger deductible should be required. Meanwhile, employers should grant the same level of health benefits for wives of male employees as they do for husbands of female employees.

• Fringe Benefits. The employers should not limit the pregnancy-related benefits to married employees. This type of benefit should be given to all female workers in spite of their position and rank. Hence, employees with pregnancy-related disabilities must be treated equal as other temporarily disabled workers. This is for the sake of endowing respect to everyone's rights in the company.