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Should a Job Interviewer Ask If You're Pregnant?

posted August 22, 2006 - 12:17pm
Should a Job Interviewer Ask If You're Pregnant?

By Tim McIntire

HYPOTHETICAL: You are a woman seeking a job. It's not just any job. It's a highly desireable, competitive career position with a great salary and benefits working for a company where you really want to work. You are also married or in a serious relationship. You and your partner have decided to start a family. In fact, you suspect you may already be pregnant.

QUESTION: Do you have an obligation to let your potential employer know your plans?

JOB CANDIDATE'S POSITION: "My pregnancy and family plans are none of my potential employer's business. If he wants me, he takes me the way I am."

EMPLOYER'S POSITION. "This is a competitive position. We have many qualified candiates and only one opening. The company wants someone who is highly qualified, that is who has the right skills, attitude, desire and availability. As an HR person, I am charged with finding the best candidate based on the best information I can discover. The person we hire has to be able to hit the ground running and carry her responsibilities. The success of the team depends on it. It's unfair for a candidate to hide something that will profoundly affect her availability. If she is pregnant, the company has a legal obligation to give her maternity leave and hold her position open. We have a right to find out if that candidate's availability is already committed."

THE QUESTION: What do you think?

Author: azcasinoguy
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Comments

Well, that position speaks

RachMonPhoebs - Mon, 2006-18-12 10:13 pm
Well, that position speaks to the hypothetical aspect of the company potentially being on the smaller side, with a tighter budget--if such is the case, a few weeks maternity leave costs a lot less than expensive litigation. Don't forget, while criminal cases bear more possible consequences, civil cases are extremely common nowadays, and have a lesser burden of proof, and often carry a great financial settlement. Regardless, if an employer is willing to falsify the reasons as to why they are not hiring a potential candidate just to cover up the fact they don't want to hire someone who is pregnant, ALL THE MORE REASON FOR A WOMAN TO NOT BE UPFRONT ABOUT THAT FACT.

This question is really

TheWonderer - Sun, 2006-17-12 6:17 am
This question is really academic. Laws can give any number of rights. But if a potential employer doesn't want to deal with a person's physical condition,ethnic background, beliefs, etc., he or she will find a legal reason not to hire the person. That's assuming the employer has half a brain. You and the employer may both know the real reason for not being hired was an illegal one, but try proving it. I think it can be almost impossible. Right or wrong, the difficulty of proving intent makes most anti-discrimination laws anti-discrimination suggestions.

http://www.xomba.com/user/thewonderer

Its your opinion, & you have a right to it, & yet, you are wrong

RachMonPhoebs - Sun, 2006-17-12 2:28 am
Regardless of what you think, there are a ton of federal, state, and local laws that regulate the types of questions potential employers are allowed to ask in an interview. These topics include, but are not limited to: *national origin/citizenship *age *affiliations (social, political, or otherwise) *personal (weight, height, etc.) *disabilities *arrest record *military (as in types of discharges) AND *marital/family status That means an employer CAN NOT ask a woman if she is pregnant, and if said employer were to do so, said employer would be BREAKING THE LAW and would be subject to criminal prosection and all penalties and fines applicable therein. Not only is it fully within a woman's right not to answer an illegal question such as this within an interview, it is also within her rights to not wear any engagement or wedding rings she may be in possession of thereby keeping her marital (or potentially upcoming) status confidential. These laws were created and have been in existance for years because of the need for protecting people in job interviews from being subjected to unfair biases, summations, projections, and otherwise. An interviewer is judging POTENTIAL job performance, and pregnancy does not affect that potetential in the financially apocolyptic way which you described. In an age where companies have flex/alternate schedules, Results Only Work Environments, and telecommuting, in addition to the "in and out" hospital stays that medical patients are pushed through, it seems like your statement is pregnant with inaccuracies.

Interview Questions

Vicki810 - Mon, 2006-23-10 4:27 am
No, the interviewer should not ask about being pregnant. It's like asking their age, which is discrimination and against the law. If you clearly see she is pregnant, don't lead her on. Just tell the truth, she doesn't meet all the qualifications your company requires right now. Tell her you will keep her application and resume on file should another position come available. Always - C.Y.A. Document everything especially in situations such as this.

Yes

Brett A Murphy - Tue, 2006-22-8 3:25 pm

Yes, the employer has every right to ask this question. While I believe that most aspects of a potential employee's life are off limits to interviewers, this one will profoundly affect the job.

As was stated, a pregancy brings with it a long absence from the position, one that may be critical if they are newly hired. It will also cost the company a good deal in both benefits and paid leave, this could be a deal breaker for a smaller company with a thin profit margin.

What it boils down to is the fact that pregnancy greatly affects job performance and that is exactly what the interviewer is looking to judge.

- BAM -

- BAM -

Hard

erikadarrell - Tue, 2006-22-8 1:52 pm

While I agree you can't ask. I would hope that the candidate will have the professionism to inform the employer. Yu are going to have to tell your employer at some point. If you hide the employer might hold it against you and feel betrayed. I have had this happen to me numerous times and have never looked at the lady the same way. A sort of trust is gone.

No

Xomba Admin - Tue, 2006-22-8 1:45 pm

An employer shouldn't have the right to ask this question unless the job was not safe for a person who is pregnant.

Jeremy Nettles
Community Relations Manager

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