Has your employer treated you differently since you announced your pregnancy at work? Discrimination is not always easy to detect.
If you have concerns about pregnancy discrimination at your job, review these red flags and understand your potential courses of action.
Increase in negative feedback
If you have always received good performance reviews at work and the tide has turned since you have become pregnant or returned to work after maternity leave, discrimination could be the cause. Carefully document all negative feedback from your employer, especially if you do not agree with the criticism as presented.
Loss of connection with colleagues
You may notice your coworkers or manager no longer includes you in meetings, emails and project updates. You receive less exciting projects and feel left out of exciting new initiatives. Your supervisor might not offer the same training opportunities your coworkers receive. Being shunted to the side by colleagues during or after pregnancy often constitutes a red flag for discrimination.
Derailed career trajectory
Were you in line for a promotion that seems to have evaporated since you had a baby? Did you get passed over for a raise? Were you fired or demoted unexpectedly? Did your job duties change without warning or explanation? If the answer to one or more of these questions is yes, your employer may be discriminating against your pregnancy.
If you live and work in California, you have legal protection from pregnancy discrimination under the state’s Fair Employment and Housing Act. This law covers pregnancy and childbirth as well as associated conditions such as morning sickness, high blood pressure and bed rest.
