Should employers be able to ask women if they plan to get pregnant?
One of readers asked on Friday to discuss Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg’s comment that employers should be able to ask women if they plan to get pregnant — even though it is illegal.
“There aren’t many women who attend the World Economic Forum’s annual meeting in Davos, Switzerland, but those who do sure know how to make waves. Facebook’s Sheryl Sandberg told an audience this weekend that she believes employers should be able to speak freely with female employees about whether they plan to get pregnant. The question is considered taboo by HR departments (not to mention feminists) because it’s illegal (not to mention slimy) to discriminate against a job candidate or employee based on pregnancy status. Why is Sandberg, one of the top women in male-dominated Silicon Valley, in favor of changing the system?
“Sandberg wants a “much more open dialogue about gender” because women are held back professionally by stereotypes no one feels comfortable talking about. “Every HR department tells you not to do that,” she said, referring to discussing employees’ plans to start families, “but we need to have a much more open conversation.”
“ ‘Think of it like a marathon. Everyone’s cheering the men on. The messages for women are different: are you sure you want to run, don’t you want to run, don’t you have kids at home? We have to talk about this.’ ”
I found this on another website and they are examples of questions that are currently illegal to ask women in interviews.
“Illegal Interview Questions to Avoid
It’s not that women have an unfair advantage over men during the interview process, yet some federal and state laws prohibit prospective employers from asking certain questions that primarily relate to women.
Examples of questions that may discriminate include:
- Do you have any children? If so, how many and what are their ages?
- Are you single, married, divorced, or engaged?
- What kind of childcare arrangements do you have in place?
- Are you currently taking any form of birth control or fertility treatment?
- What are your plans if you get pregnant?
- Does your spouse work? If so, what does your spouse do for a living?
- Should we refer to you as Mr., Miss, or Mrs.?”
So the reader asks: “Should employers be able to ask female employees about their family planning?”
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71 comments Add your comment
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February 11th, 2013
2:26 pm
Enter your comments here
motherjanegoose
February 11th, 2013
2:53 pm
LOL…no my body does not work perfectly. Perhaps you were not part of this audience when I explained my VBAC woes and the injury of my daughter on her C-5 and C-6. Yes, I was lucky that my pregnancies were at times that worked out best for me to be able to go back to work after the summer break. I also feel blessed to have a boy and girl, which is exactly what my husband and I wanted. Trust me, our life is far from perfect!
oneofeach4me
February 11th, 2013
3:26 pm
If someone where to ask me that in an interview…. I would keep silent and report their arses to the EEOC immediately.
Now, to address those who say it makes sense for small businesses to ask the BLATANTLY illegal question as to protect their business (not to mention the Pregnancy Discrimination Act of 1978). Let’s really think before we speak shall we? The FMLA Act is only available to those who have worked for their employer for 12 months continually before the requested leave time, and then, if a business has less than 50 employees within a 75 mile radius of where one works (anything over that is no longer considered a small business), they don’t even have to guarantee someone their job should they choose to return after childbirth. In addition, paid maternity leave is NOT required; ANYWHERE. So really…. they could just get a temp for 6 weeks and move on with it. No one ever said that being a business owner was easy!!
I think the business owner should be more worried about being sued… see my first sentence…. ;-)
Decatur Guy
February 11th, 2013
3:50 pm
” If you’re having sex, you can get pregnant!”
Wow, the things we learn from bloggers on the AJC. Who knew you could get pregnant from sex?
Decatur Guy
February 11th, 2013
3:51 pm
“Well, goodie for you that you were able to plan just when your children were born.”
There are a few people who need to take remedial english. The person who wrote the above comment is one of those people.
Decatur Guy
February 11th, 2013
3:52 pm
“If someone where to ask me that in an interview”
No one would ask that question because it’s illegal.
oneofeach4me
February 11th, 2013
4:04 pm
@ Decatur Guy ~ Correction. No one SHOULD ask it. People do things that are illegal every single day. I do believe my entire post was about the fact that not only can the question not be asked during an interview, but also that most maternity leave laws do not even apply to small businesses so using the argument that knowing ahead of time helps save money is refuted.
Erin
February 11th, 2013
4:38 pm
Honestly, if a woman interviewer asked me such a question I’d tell her it’s none of her business, and if a man did it, I’d be VERY tempted to tell him if he plans to get a vasectomy.
Either way, not a place I’d want to work. You have to have standards and I don’t really think the status of my uterus is relevant in any way, shape or form to whether I can do my job.
Un-asked questions
February 11th, 2013
4:46 pm
Who owns the business? Who takes the risks? Who invested the money? Who will suffer the loss?
Unless any of those answers are “the government”, they have absolutely NO business in telling anyone how they should run their business, what questions they should or should not ask, who they should hire, who they should fire, etc. Discrimination is just a word that means decision making based on criteria. One must always be discriminating, and sometimes that will mean decisions that are not popular.
Government manipulation of the economy, credit, licenses, permits, and a whole host of other things helps decide winners and losers in our economy. That MUST stop. The only role for government is insuring that everyone have the right to do with their lives, their property, their skills, etc. as they see fit. If you want to open a business to compete against someone who discriminates, you should have that right and not have to ask some government bureaucrat for permission. If someone doesn’t want to hire you because you are too fat, too disabled, too gay, too old, too young, too sexy, too ugly, too white, too black, too conservative, too liberal, etc. that should be their business – PERIOD.
Who owns the business? The owner or the government?
Its high time we starting asking that question because the government’s belief that THEY do is destroying America and our ability to get along as a diverse community of people. Laws that prevent free association engender hatred, resentment and distrust. We need only look around to see how true that is.
missnadine
February 11th, 2013
5:46 pm
Lots of people don’t realize that HR people try to trick interviewers by putting pictures of kids on their desk, thereby often starting a conversation about the interviewee’s own kids. Women need to be a lot smarter about stuff like this. There are certain things they do that are a dead giveaway. I write resumes for a living, and one thing I see a lot is that women use email addresses that tell the interviewer that they are moms, like some of commenter names on this blog for example.
kimmer
February 11th, 2013
6:18 pm
Its illegal to ask. I get that and I’m not saying is should not be. However, the analogies someone used of asking if someone planned on contracting the flu or contracting a disease, or getting in a car wreck are obviously flawed. NOBODY plans on catching a disease or getting in a wreck. Lots and lots of people plan very deliberately to have babies. The unfortunate reality is that no matter how far equality has come among the sexes, nature is not equal in the childbearing dept and pregnancy is a potential liability for businesses in lost time, etc.
The rub of such a question being off-limits is that many businesses are likely to play it safe and just pass on many young females. If I were a younger woman who did not plan on having children I think I’d find a way to deliver that message in the interview. Couldn’t hurt.
atlmom
February 11th, 2013
6:43 pm
Can they start asking men: do you plan to impregnate any women? Will you be having children with just one woman, or many? Will you pay child support for all of those children? And pay the woman who bore your child because, it’s clear she shouldn’t have to work while taking care of your children?
How about those?
motherjanegoose
February 11th, 2013
8:09 pm
@missnadine….like motherjanegoose? HAHA! Yes, I am a Mother in my personal and professional life too!
atlmom
February 11th, 2013
8:17 pm
kimmer: but lots and lots of people PLAN to get pregnant, and then don’t. And lots and lots of people DO NOT plan to get pregnant and *do*.
atlmom
February 11th, 2013
8:18 pm
missnadine: I was perfectly clear that I was a mom in interviews – no one had to trick me. if you aren’t a family friendly company, I don’t want to work for you.
Quira
February 11th, 2013
9:02 pm
Of COURSE employers should be able to ask about child bearing and arrangements. They want to hire women…even need to hire them. Play acting like pregnancy and childcare are not real issues is what holds women back not putting the real issue on the table.
Faux protections like not asking about issues we all know about don’t help anyone. Not the employer and not the employee.
missnadine
February 11th, 2013
11:23 pm
@motherjanegoose – yes, exactly like your handle. If you were in banking or finance, or really anything BUT the profession you are in, the use of motherjanegoose in an email address would not be very wise or helpful.
missnadine
February 11th, 2013
11:33 pm
@atlmom – good for you, really. That is not the norm for companies, and not everyone has your choice to be selective. I didn’t bring up the issue to argue with anyone. As someone with 20+ years in my field, I know what HR people think in a lot of cases, and more and more, they are looking to hire people with the least amount of potential “drama”, such as going on maternity leave. It is just the way things are in many places. I network with HR folks as well as recruiters, and a very big portion of them, many as women AND moms, have that opinion. The fact that so many women feel that was as well is troubling.
Let me say this: I write resumes for a close 50% split between women and men. I write the interview thank-you letters once they interview, so that they do not appear canned. I can tell you, without reservation, that I write far many more thank you letters for me than women. The difference is even more glaring when the woman candidate has a marked employment gap. If companies want to discriminate, they will find a way. The hire rate for people with ethnic sounding names is very low as well, regardless of their background, when compared to more traditional names. I’m off topic now, but I can ensure you that I bring significant knowledge and expertise in this area.
non committal mind reader
February 12th, 2013
2:02 pm
Its illegal, but I am mixed. I would expect that it would make no difference for a 100+ person company… they will find a way to deal with the pregnancy. but what about a 2-10 person shop? 1 person out for months at a time is not a situation that a company can easily respond.
We have to value children. They are our future. But we can’t value them so much that we cripple a small business.
Ann
February 13th, 2013
10:11 am
@xxx – That younger, cheaper employee is going to move on much quicker to a higher paying job elsewhere – much faster than a more experienced, higher paid employee. Shortsighted views ignore training costs and difficulties when a position is vacant a month or two while rehiring.
Ann
February 13th, 2013
10:47 am
@ mundane – Regarding your comment about “insurance payouts” due to pregnancy, etc., a lot of men in the workplace have their family on the insurance plan. So, are you suggesting that employers not hire any married men who may have their wife on their insurance? Your pool of potential employees would shrink a good bit.
In recent years, women have begun to surpass men in college education attendance and achievement. Women have longer life spans than men. To rule out an entire gender is no way to plan for success as a company.
Nowadays, women have kids at ages that potentially range over a couple of decades. One woman may have kids at 19, while another at 41. To ignore a 28 year old candidate because they may get pregnant one day is absurd. You may easily get 10 years of non-stop employment before that happens.
What about the risks of hiring young male candidates, who are looking to switch jobs and move up the ladder quickly? Why aren’t these male candidates considered “risky” for small businesses. I see a lot of job switching within a year or two for a variety of reasons, moving to a large company with more advancement, better pay, better benefits, more exposure, etc.