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Pregnant Woman Being Forced to Take Leave
Benefits & Compensation
Pregnant Woman Being Forced to Take Leave
Exchange ideas about health plans, retirement, work/life benefits, and employee assistance.
What if the woman is 36 weeks pregnant and wants to continue to work and her employer is forcing her to take leave because they are afraid of her delivering at work?
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Forums » Topic Forums » Benefits & Compensation » Pregnant Woman Being Forced to Take Leave
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Pregnant Woman Being Forced to Take Leave
posted at 7/11/2008 6:44 AM EDT
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Posts: 3870
First: 2/12/2002 Last: 11/2/2009 |
I don't blame the employer at all. There's a huge amount of potential liability involved.
Were I the employer, I'd be requiring that the employee provide a doctor's certification that the employee can still work. |
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Pregnant Woman Being Forced to Take Leave
posted at 7/11/2008 7:19 AM EDT
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Posts: 2442
First: 2/12/2000 Last: 9/14/2011 |
Personally I would be contacting the doctor and verify that a 36 week(nearly 9 month) pregnant woman is fit for a regular full time job. Normally they would have her out on sick leave much earlier, and why not. |
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Pregnant Woman Being Forced to Take Leave
posted at 7/11/2008 7:31 AM EDT
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Posts: 228
First: 11/1/2006 Last: 1/20/2010 |
I agree - start the FMLA certification. That will eliminate the guess work. I've known several women who worked up until going into labor. I think a lot has to do with the type of work the woman does. |
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Pregnant Woman Being Forced to Take Leave
posted at 7/11/2008 8:42 AM EDT
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Posts: 3
First: 7/11/2008 Last: 7/11/2008 |
I agree will all of these suggestions but then again we have HIPPA. An employer has to be careful as far as requiring medical information and that again gets into the Discrimination Act. How do you decide if someone is able to work if everything on the outside looks like a person is able to work. You allow someone on chemotherapy to come to work and work if it is possible, even though she may be sick or weak throughout the day and need rest periods because we have a breast cancer act, how do we determine a woman is not able to work because she is pregnant. The balance of scales is a little off in making a decision. |
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Pregnant Woman Being Forced to Take Leave
posted at 7/11/2008 8:49 AM EDT
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Posts: 2442
First: 2/12/2000 Last: 9/14/2011 |
HIPPA is not the issue. We are not asking for medical details so that we can make a decision.
We are asking a doctor (not a nurse) to state in writing, that given the patient's medical condition AND give the demands of the full time job, (attach job description) that the patient is capable of providing a full days high quality work like any one else. |
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Pregnant Woman Being Forced to Take Leave
posted at 7/11/2008 9:41 AM EDT
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Posts: 3870
First: 2/12/2002 Last: 11/2/2009 |
HIPAA is only an issue if you don't safeguard the information once you get it from the physician. You should be maintaining confidential employee medical files anyway so hopefully this won't be a problem.
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Pregnant Woman Being Forced to Take Leave
posted at 7/11/2008 10:25 AM EDT
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Posts: 2146
First: 2/15/2006 Last: 9/14/2011 |
HIPAA doesn't cover employers requesting information for WC, FMLA or ADA situations. It is not illegal for them to do so. It does cover the doctor releasing such information without the employee's approval/signature.
If the employee refuses to provide the authorization, then the employer can't get the paperwork it needs to work through any of the processes. And the laws allow for the employer to deny FMLA, reasonable accommodation etc if the employee won't/can't provide the documentation. ADA is the only law has its own confidentiality rules. Directly from the EEOC's website:http://www.eeoc.gov/facts/fs-preg.html "An employer may not single out pregnancy related conditions for special procedures to determine an employee's ability to work. However, an employer may use any procedure used to screen other employees' ability to work. For example, if an employer requires its employees to submit a doctor's statement concerning their inability to work before granting leave or paying sick benefits, the employer may require employees affected by pregnancy related conditions to submit such statements. If an employee is temporarily unable to perform her job due to pregnancy, the employer must treat her the same as any other temporarily disabled employee; for example, by providing modified tasks, alternative assignments, disability leave or leave without pay. Pregnant employees must be permitted to work as long as they are able to perform their jobs. If an employee has been absent from work as a result of a pregnancy related condition and recovers, her employer may not require her to remain on leave until the baby's birth. An employer may not have a rule which prohibits an employee from returning to work for a predetermined length of time after childbirth..." So I definitely agree that this is illegal discrimination if she is still able to perform her job. |
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