The stories are legion. A pregnant woman under a medical lifting restriction is denied light duty by her employer. Another employee requests to leave an hour early for a prenatal doctor’s appointment; in response, her boss fires her. Still others cannot obtain temporary, often minor, adjustments to their working conditions like a stool to sit on, permission to carry a water bottle, more frequent eating and bathroom breaks, an indoor assignment during a heat wave and flexible hours. It goes without saying that more significant accommodations to problem pregnancies (for example, a threat of miscarriage requiring several weeks of bed rest) will yet more often be met with intransigence.
The results of employer inflexibility in these situations can be dire. If the expecting mother decides to “suck it up,” she risks her own and her fetus’ health. Deprived of sufficient food or hydration, pregnant women have collapsed on the job and ended up in the emergency room. If, however, the employee opts to safeguard her pregnancy, she can either be terminated or, at best, placed on (usually uncompensated) leave. The loss of wages and benefits come, moreover, just when an added mouth to feed will strain her resources and she will most need medical coverage.
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