Quad Cities Watchdog Sniffing out government's lack of common sense

Why Hire A Woman?

I just finished reading an article by Vogue Editor Alexandria Shulman entitled Year-long maternity leave, flex hours, four-day weeks... why would ANY boss hire a woman? You can read it for yourself here (highly recommended).

In the United States, if you have 15 or more employees you are subject to federal law that protects pregnant women.  That law, Pregnancy Discrimination Act which is part of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, provides women who are pregnant with protections that ensure they are treated the same as other applicants and employees on the basis of their ability or inability to work.

In other words, you cannot fire, refuse a job, or deny a promotion merely because they are pregnant.  In addition, a woman usually may not be forced to go on leave as long as she is able to work.

Here is an interesting tidbit that I bet many of you didn't know: Iowa is one of a only a few states that require employers who have LESS than 15 employees to abide by Federal and Iowa specific laws as follows.

Iowa's pregnancy leave law applies to employers with four employees or more, and requires that written and unwritten employment policies and practices involving matters such as the commencement and duration of leave, the availability of extensions, the accrual of seniority and other benefits and privileges, reinstatement, and payment under any health or temporary disability insurance or sick leave plan, formal or informal, must be applied to a disability due to the employee's pregnancy or giving birth on the same terms and conditions as they are applied to other temporary disabilities.  In any event, the employee must be permitted up to eight weeks of leave for pregnancy-related disability, as needed.

I love children, and having two of my own, know the difficulties that can be presented in day-to-day activities and life in general.  However, I am NOT a fan of such laws and whole-heartedly agree with the comments made by Shulman in her article.  However, we vary in one important aspect and that is the fact that I don't believe in these laws AT ALL.

You see, the law treats being pregnant as a disability and as such affords you a fairly lengthy amount of time off WITH PAY that the employer has to cover.  The difference, at least in the way I see it, is that pregnancy is NOT a disability but a CHOICE that a husband and wife make together and in doing so should plan for the event.  I think that the first year of a baby's life is probably one of the most important because they are so delicate and need their parents there to help them develop properly.

I don't think it is out of the question to assume that most working families cannot afford to save enough money to cover their expenses for that first year so that a Mom could take the entire year of from her job or more if she so desired.  However, upon returning to the workplace I don't think she should be treated ANY differently than anyone else who left the workforce and then decided to come back a year later (school, family issues, or whatever reason someone would leave the workforce).

Leave with pay should be an option provided to employees by the employer and not forced upon them by government intervention.  This is where personal responsibility comes into play.  It is a choice to have a child and not a right to get paid for it.

What do you think; agree or disagree?

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