1.   INTRODUCTION
    1. ANALYSIS OF THE ISSUE AND MOST COMMON RELATED PROBLEMS
  2. LA SITUAZIONE IN ITALIA
    1. LE DONNE ED IL LAVORO
    2. TESTIMONIANZE
  3. SITUATION IN THE USA
    1. STATISTICS AND NUMBERS
    2. REAL TESTIMONIES
  4. COMPARISON BETWEEN ITALY AND USA

 

 

 

 

 

 

America and Italy:

 

 

 

Pregnant women's 

 

 

rights at workplace

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

American flag                 VS                         Italian flag

 

  source: http://farm1.static.flickr.com/49/149005872_a9b66d9f8f_m.jpg        source:http://farm1.static.flickr.com/38/101747928_3a4e0cf0a2_m.jpg

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

INTRODUCTION

 

ANALYSIS OF THE ISSUE AND MOST COMMON RELATED PROBLEMS

 

Pregnancy dimiscrimination is a very serious and delicate issue in the workplace and reporting of it is on the rise. We think that it is worthy to discuss this  phenomenon, first of all because we will soon be finished with University and we will have to look for a job. Approaching the business world is not an easy task, especially in a society that requires more and more qualification and flexibility. From the point of view of capitalism, being a woman involves some delicate aspects that should be considered as well: the cost of employing women can be and probably is higher than that incurred for hiring men. Certain benefits that should be granted under law by the employer to pregnant women may make some companies reluctant to hire women. Pregnancy is expensive for employers, especially for those small employers who may be large hit when women take time off after having a baby. This consequently creates a sort of gender discrimination and oppresses women in the workforce: not only are women discriminated against by not being hired but they are also being discriminating against by  being fired because of pregnancy.

 

Despite the fact that we live in a society that is becoming more understanding and protection is provided by the law in all developed countries,  pregnancy discrimination persists and more and more women are speaking out and complaining about possible injustice. People think that pregnancy discrimination is a thing of the past, that does not happen anymore. This is not true. Stereotypes about pregnant women persist and at workplace they are often viewed as overly emotional, irrational, physically limited and less than committed to their jobs. An article published by USA TODAY in february 2005, points out that the number of women claiming they have been discriminated against on the job because of pregnacy is soaring although the birth rate declines. Pregnancy discrimination has become one of the fastest-growing types of employment discrimination, outfacing sexual harassment and sex discrimination claims. As it is not easy to mantain a job when pregnant, more working women are having children at a late age when, in case of unenployment, they can take advantage of a better financial situation and when careers are better established[1] .

 

 

 

 

 

LA SITUAZIONE IN ITALIA

 

LE DONNE ED IL LAVORO

 

Per le donne in Italia che vogliono avere un bambino ma hanno un lavoro, c’è la legge n.151 del 26 marzo 2001. Questa legge è stata creata per proteggere i diritti delle donne, ma perfino con questa legge molte donne hanno problemi e perdono il lavoro. La legge ha sei temi: la tutela del posto del lavoro, l'astensione obbligatoria, l' astensione facoltativa, il diritto all’allattamento ed i permessi per malattia del figlio e assistenza a bambini con handicap. La tutela del posto di lavoro prevede che le donne in attesa di un bambino non possono essere licenziate nel periodo tra l’inizio della gravidanza e il primo anno di vita del bambino. Dopo il settimo mese di gravidanza, le donne incinta non possono sollevare pesi o farei lavori paricolosi. Quando una donna vuole riprendere il proprio lavoro dopo una gravidanza, ha il diritto di svolgere le stesse mansioni epr cui era assunta prima della gravidanza. Tutte le donne che aspettano un bambino possono astenersi dal lavoro e hanno due opzioni: lavorare fino al settimo mese di gravidanza e rimanere a casa per i primi tre mesi della vita del bambino o invece lavorare fino all' ottavo mese di gravidanza e rimanere a casa per i primi quattro mesi di vita del bambino. Durante questa assenza, le donne riceveranno l' otto percento dello stipendio. La legge offre anche l’opportunità di astensione facoltativa per gli altri membri della famiglia. Ciò significa che la madre o il padre possono astenersi dal lavoro anche contemporaneamente ed in questo caso la famiglia riceverà un solo stipendio. La legge prevede perfino alcune norme riguardanti l’allattamento. Durante il primo anno di vita del bambino infatti, la donna può assentarsi per due ore al giorno per allattare il bambino, questo però solo nel caso in cui la giornata lavorativa superi le sei ore. Se sul luogo di lavoro è presente un’ asilo nido aziendale, la donna ha la possibilità di frequentarlo per l’allattamento. Qualora il bambino si dovesse ammalare e avesse bisogno di un medico specialista, la madre o il padre possono di diritto astenersi dal lavoro. Fino a quando il bambino ha tre anni, l’azienda non può stabilire a priori un limite di assenze dal lavoro, anche se questa non è prevista per entrambi I genitori contemporaneamente.

 

 

Infine la legge offre assistenza a bambini con handicap. Se i genitori hanno un bambino con handicap, possono assentarsi dal lavoro fino al terzo anno, o possono assentarsi per due ore al giorno. Questa legge fa pensare che non vi siano problemi per le donne incinta , ma in realtà non è così. L’ Isfol (Istituto per lo Sviluppo della Formazione Professionale dei Lavoratori) ha pubblicato di recente una ricerca nelle quale analizzai problemi in campo lavorativo di 25,000 donne tra i 15 e 64 anni. Lo studio ha evidenziato le sequenti prolematiche: la gravidanza è ancora la ragione principale per la quale le donne lasciano il lavoro. La ragione di ciò è causata prevalentemente da problemi con il datore di lavoro, o da episodi di disciminazione nei confronti delle donne. Il 13.% delle donne lasciano il lavoro per dedicarsi alla cura del proprio bambino. Chi invece non può permettersi di lasciare il lavoro per motivi finanziari, sceglie il part-time.  Per quasi il 70% delle donnequesto diventa il lavoro permanente in quanto non hanno nessun’ altra l’alternativa possibile, come invece prevede la legge. Proprio in quanto le donne non hanno a disposizione del tempo da dedicare al proprio bambino, la nonna diventa la principale persona che se ne occupa (questo accade nel 50% delle famiglie). Un altro 30% ha necessità rivolgersi ad un asilo nido. La cosa più allarmante è che le donne sono sottoposte ad atti di discriminazione  sul luogo di lavoro. Molti datori di lavoro infatti non offrono alle donne un lavoro con interessanti opportunità di carriera se credono che possa avere un bambino in un futuro recente. Alcuni datori di addirittura non assumono quelle donne che pensano di volere un bambino anche eventualmente in un futuro ontano. Tra le donne che hanno già avuto un figlio e vogliono ritornare al lavoro, lo studio ha evidenziato che il 12% di loro sono state licenzate contro le norme di legge a loro tutela. Anche per le donne che continuano a lavorare, il 13% non ha un contratto di lavoro stabile. Infine, solo il 15% delle donne riesce a trovare un lavoro dopo aver avuto un bambino.

 

 

 

TESTIMONIANZE

 

 

 Per meglio capire il problema della discriminazione riportiamo di seguito due video, reali testimoninaze di persone che il problema lo conoscono o lo vivono in prima persona:

 

  • Il primo video si intitola “Precariato in 90 secondi”. Un avvocato descrive la situazione del lavoro precario in Italia e di come questo abbia notevoli e gravi conseguenze sulla vita delle donne.   Mette a rischio la possibilità per le donne di vivere la propria vita volendolo autonomamente e pregiudica la sicurezza per la maternità.  

 

 

 

               

Preso da: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yLbmNM4oy50 

 

 

 

 

 

  • Questo secondo video si intita 'Sono incinta, ma al lavoro non lo dico '. Si tratta di un sondaggio condotto da RAIDUE il 2 aprile 2008. Il gionalista intervista diverse persone, di entrabi i sessi, e chiede loro di esprimere un'opinione riguardo eventuali casi di discriminazione nei confronti di donne incinta (o che potrebbero diventarlo)  da loro riscontrati.
     

 

  Preso da: http://it.youtube.com/watch?v=H8MzXYVMIx0

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

SITUATION IN THE USA

 

LAWS AND ACTS

 

 

According to an attentive analysis of the American society conducted by the U.S Department of Labour, it follows that there is a lack of employment policies to accommodate working parents and thus individuals are often  forced to choose between job security and parenting. Moreover, due to the nature of the roles of men and women in the American  society, the primary responsibility for family caretaking often falls on women, and so such responsibility affects the working lives of women more than it affects the working lives of men. This  employment standard that applies to one gender only encourages discrimination  against  female employees. The point is that  often employers held prejudices against working mothers; due to the absence of  working mothers  they are afraid of loosing part of the production.

 

Being this the situation, we will look into detail the laws promulgated by the government in order to protect  pregnant women at workplace. In 1963 the government enacted The Equal Pay Act[2] in order to prevent discrimination. Under this law men and women must be given equal pay for equal work; it does not mean that the job must to be identical, but only that it has to be substantially equal. The efforts made by the law with the intention of reducing discrimination of pregnant women at workplace are undoubtedly consistent. Nevertheless, inequity is still a reality and often The U.S Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) is called to  mediate between workers and employers and in case of claims it  resolves the situation with an eventual monetary pay-out.

 

Always pursuing  the goal of equal employment opportunities for women and men, the government enacted  The Pregnancy Discrimination Act, an amendment of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 signed into law by President L. Johnson, on proposal of J.F.Kennedy who had been killed  one year before. The Act, which represented a model legislation for other states, prohibits discrimination in public places based on race, color, religion, sex and national origin, making therefore employment discrimination illegal [3].  The law states that : pregnant women cannot be fired or forced to leave the job; employers cannot refuse to hire a woman because of her pregnancy or prejudice against pregnant workers; employers must grant leave or paying sick benefits; employers cannot take away credit for previous years, accrued retirement benefits, or seniority because of maternity leave; any health insurance provided by an employer must cover expenses for pregnancy related conditions[4]. One limiting factor of these law is that it applies only to employers with more than 15 employees.

 

One of the most recent laws passed in 1993 by the U.S Department of Labour is The Family and Medical Leave Act [5](FMLA). It in grants family and temporary medical leaves to parents who have to take care  of a child after birth or adoption. Under this law workers are eligible [6]  for a leave only if they have worked for at least one year  or for 1,250 hours over the previous 12 months for the same employer. The  aim of this Act is to minimize the potential for employment discrimination on the basis of sex and in this sense it is  consistent with the purposes of  the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment of the United States Constitution. The Constitution, although, does not directly constrain the private sector. FMLA ensures that leaves are available for eligible medical reasons (including maternity-related disability) and for compelling family reasons. This means that workers affected by temporary disabilities, and consequently also pregnant women, have the right to obtain a reduced leave schedule. This gives workers the possibility to obtain  a reduction of  the usual number of  working hours per day or per week. What’s more, during the reduced leave, workers have the right to maintain their working position and when the period of reduced  leave ends, they must be restored by the employer to the same  position they held when the leave commenced. If it is not possible anymore, they must be restored to an equivalent position with equivalent employment benefits, pay, and conditions.

 

Health and safety Executive association is a new guidance to help pregnant women at work. This guide higlights the importance of health professionals' role in helping to protect these women. Employeers have a legal responsibility to protect their female empolyeers from hazards and risks in the workplace and to asses possible risks to new expectant mothers. If risks are identified then the new or espectant mother is entitled to change in working conditions, be offered suitable alternative work. Being pregnant or a new mother does not prevent from working and developing their career.

 

 

 

 

STATISTICS AND NUMBERS

 

 

Every year around 350,000 women continue to work during their pregnancy and of these 69% return to work soon after giving birth. The legal journal published by the Equal Employment opportunities commission (EEOC), shows that the employers increasingly have to pay higher awards in sex discrimination cases and the average compensation payout for a case involving dismissal due to pregnancy is very high. There is no limit to how much companies could be ordered to pay in compensation. Despite significant developments in the law over the last 30 years, many employers continue to discriminate against pregnant employeers. Every year 30,000 women are sacked or forced to leave their employement because of pregnancy. A further 200,000 face other kinds of discrimination. 

 

The number of women claiming they've been discriminated against on the job is rising. Employement lawyers say that, in many cases, empolyers are simply making honest mistakes as they try to understand a variety of federal and state law governing issues such as pregnancy disrimination and family leave. On the othet hand, pregnant women claim they've been unfairly fired, denied promotions and in some cases urged to terminate pregnancies in order to keep their jobs.

 

 

 

REAL TESTIMONIES

 

 

Mailyn Pickler, 23, of Mesa, Arizona, says she was working for auto dealership Berge Ford when she told a manager about her pregnancy. A week later her supervisors told her she was being fired because, according to the lawsuit, it would not be safe for her to drive while being pregnant. Mailyn Pickler applied to the EEOC, filed a lawsuit on Pickler's behalf, and the case was settled out of court for £ 70,000. Her son, Jesse, is 3, and Pickler, who is now a stay-at-home mom, is pregnant again.

 

Roberta Carlton says she's seen it firsthand. When she was working as a manager at a software company, she says she wanted to hire a women who had just had a baby. She says her boss said the job applicant was a new parent and wouldn't be able to put in the hours. What the boss  didn't know was  that Carlton was three months pregnant at the time.

 

Susanna Kenna, 38, says her employer didn't make accomodations for her when she became pregnant with triplets. She says managers cut her pay after she needed to go on bed rest, and she says she was cut out of meetings before being put on bed rest  and generally pressured to quit. She was on bed rest for one week.

 

 

 

  NBC news: Women's rights

 

 

  Taken from http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QRrhs0Cfc0w

 

 

 

 

 

                                  IT IS A MATTER OF CHOICE: GO TO WORK OR STAY AT HOME?

 

                                                                         Any day now

 

 

 source: http://www.flickr.com/photos/eric_and_iulia_booth/123763303/         source: http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3029/2368113800_9e2d362cc3_m.jpg

 

 

 

 

 

 

COMPARISON BETWEEN ITALY AND USA

 

 

Making a comparison between Italy and USA as far as the situation of pregnant woman at workplace is concerned is definitely a hard stuff. As a matter of fact practice does not correspond to theory and thus it is very difficult to evaluate the issue. Presuming the situation from the laws and acts, we suppouse that pregnant women are well protected against prejudice and inequity, both in Italy and in the USA. In both countries, an anti-discrimination policy has been developed since decades. In the USA we find  The Family and Medical Leave Act, a tool that helps women in concealing family life with work and career; the Pregnancy Discrimination Act, thet is an even more precise device to assure equality between male and female workers; an Equal Employment Opportunity Commission has also been settled. In Italy we find  Legge 151 del 26 Marzo 2001 which ensures working mothers protection from abuse, grants the maintenance of the workplace and gives different kinds of  leaves. Unfortunately, despite all those measures, inequity and discrimination are still terrible reality. As we could see from the testimonies, in many cases rule of law is not respected. Employers often find different ways and shortcuts to elude laws with the intention of discriminating women, thinking their own businees. That’s why tracing a comparison between these two countries, pointing out differences and similarities has been that difficult! Consulting the documents and Acts have been just the beginning of our research project, because we actually had to find out real testimonies and evidences to focus on the real situation. According to what interviewed mothers said, the situation is much more complicated and worring than what it seems. In this case laws are made to be ignored. The legal means are already there, the awareness of the problem too, those are definetly good starting points. We know that the way is still long, let's  hope in the common sense of the employers.

 

 

USEFUL LINKS:

 

www.usatoday.com

www.isfol.it

www.workingmotherblog.blogspot.com

http://del.icio.us

www.tribunalconsult.co.uk

http://www.hrlawyersblog.com/hr-law/pregnancy-discrimination/

http://womensrightsny.com/blog/category/pregnancy-discrimination/

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Footnotes

  1. http://www.usatoday.com/money/workplace/2005-02-16-pregnancy-bias-usat_x.htm ▲
  2. The Equal Pay Act of 1963 ▲
  3. http://www.historicaldocuments.com/CivilRightsAct1964.htm ▲
  4. http://www.eeoc.gov/facts/fs-preg.html ▲
  5. http://www.finduslaw.com/family_and_medical_leave_act_fmla_29_u_s_code_chapter_28 ▲
  6. http://finduslaw.com/federal_employment_law/employment_discrimination/harassment_gender_sex_pregnancy ▲


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