Employers should do more for pregnant employees

December 04, 2014, 6:36 PM GMT+0

Americans think that companies should be required to give pregnant women lighter workloads if their jobs are normally physically demanding

When UPS worker Peggy Young became pregnant in 2006 her doctor gave her written instructions to avoid lifting more than 20lbs. UPS drivers are expected to be able to lift and move packages weighing up to 70lbs, but UPS often gave lighter workloads to workers who could not lift heavy things due to injuries - an accomodation that they did not make for Peggy or other pregnant women. Young was made to take unpaid leave, something which resulted in her losing her health insurance. UPS is now facing a Supreme Court case over the incident for violating the Pregnancy Discrimination Act which forbids employers from dismissing pregnant women.

The latest research from YouGov shows that most Americans (61%) say that companies should be required to give women who have physically demanding jobs a lighter workload if they become pregnant. 22% say that employers shouldn't make such an accomodation. Democrats (68%) and independents (61%) are more likely than Republicans (50%) to say that employers should have to give pregnant women lighter workloads.

When people are asked whether they would hire qualified candidates for a position if they were expecting to have a child in a year or two, people were more likely to say they would hire the man than the woman. 89% say that they would hire the man who was going to start the family, while 76% say that they would hire the woman who is expecting to have a child soon.

Full poll results can be found here.