Susan Hendrix didn’t think her boss would be overjoyed when she took off a few days because of morning sickness. But she never expected the reaction she got.
Not surprisingly, many business groups take a different point of view.
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Today about 73 percent of women of childbearing age are working–more than double the percentage from three decades ago. A majority of U.S. families are headed by a single woman or two working parents. Even if a husband or wife wants to stay home and raise the children–or just stay home–many can’t afford to. On top of that, many Americans are now of an age when the health of their parents begins to fail–which means sons and daughters are pressed to drop out of the job market to care for them.
“When prospective employers realize that I’m pregnant, they don’t want to hire me,” says Hendrix. “They don’t want to have to train someone and then watch her leave a few months later to have a baby. It’s very frustrating for me. I feel like business is out to screw pregnant women. They treat me as though I’m incapable of working, even though I have full mental capabilities and I want to work. The law in these matters should be changed to protect women.”
Reaction was mixed. Women’s and senior-citizens’ groups applauded her. But the Chicago Tribune denounced the bill in an editorial for “trying to legislate employee benefits, which the Illinois legislature should not be doing.” Other business interests have pledged to work for its defeat.
“We have to be careful about stepping down the slippery slope of mandated benefits. Look at western Europe. Businesses there have more mandated benefits than any other country, and they have the lowest rate of economic growth. On the other hand, look at Japan–they don’t have these mandated benefits and their economy is booming. When Big Brother tells you what to do, you have problems.”
Netsch and Cohen point out that most studies show that workers rarely take off their full 18 weeks. “Usually they can’t afford to,” says Cohen. “And a lot of companies can find ways to work around a leave without hiring new employees. They can always redistribute the work load.”
