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 More than three decades after Congress passed a law trying to protect pregnant women in the workplace, discrimination is still widespread and needs to be combated with publicity and clearer guidelines, according to testimony Wednesday at a federal hearing. |
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More than three decades after Congress passed a law trying to protect pregnant women in the workplace, discrimination is still widespread and needs to be combated with publicity and clearer guidelines, according to testimony Wednesday at a federal hearing. The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission's legal counsel, Peggy Mastroianni, said the agency had resolved 52,000 pregnancy cases since 2001, with $150.5 million paid out in damages. Discrimination against pregnant women includes firing, forced leave without pay, being denied a place to pump breast milk and being barred from some work, witnesses told the five-member EEOC panel at a hearing on the issue. Decades after the passage of the 1978 Pregnancy Discrimination Act, discrimination ranges from the shop floor to the executive suite, with sexual stereotyping a major factor. It is found in every state, but is more likely to hit women in low-income jobs, they said. "This many years after the Pregnancy Discrimination Act, we still have employers who still don't understand the basics. Are we getting the word out on fundamental issues?" said Commissioner Constance Barker. The issue of workplace discrimination was highlighted two weeks ago when a federal judge in Texas ruled against a Houston mother who said she was fired after asking for a place to pump breast milk. The EEOC helped litigate the case. General Counsel David Lopez said the agency was weighing whether to appeal the ruling. The Pregnancy Discrimination Act forbids discrimination by employers based on pregnancy, including hiring, firing, pay, job assignments and promotions. Under the law, pregnancy is considered a temporarily disabling condition. Witnesses said overlapping laws and rules, such as the Pregnancy Discrimination Act, the 1990 Americans With Disabilities Act and the Family and Medical Leave Act, had created gray areas that left employers uncertain about how to deal with pregnancy. One issue was how to compare treatment of a pregnant woman with that of other employees, they said. "In our view, the current laws are a little confusing and in some cases contradictory," said Deane Ilukowicz, a human relations executive with Hypertherm Inc, a Hanover, New Hampshire, maker of metal cutting gear. (Read by Nelly Min. Nelly Min is a journalist at the China Daily Website.) (Agencies) |
據(jù)周三美國(guó)聯(lián)邦法院聽(tīng)證會(huì)的證詞顯示，在美國(guó)國(guó)會(huì)通過(guò)保護(hù)職場(chǎng)女性孕期權(quán)利的法律三十多年之后，職場(chǎng)女性懷孕依然廣泛遭受歧視，需要通過(guò)加大宣傳和制定更明確的指導(dǎo)方針來(lái)和歧視作斗爭(zhēng)。 平等就業(yè)機(jī)會(huì)委員會(huì)的法律顧問(wèn)佩奇?馬斯楚安尼說(shuō)，自2001年以來(lái)，委員會(huì)已經(jīng)處理了5.2萬(wàn)起懷孕案件，涉及的傷害賠償金達(dá)1.505億美元。 在聽(tīng)證會(huì)上，證人告訴平等就業(yè)機(jī)會(huì)委員會(huì)的五人評(píng)判小組說(shuō)，對(duì)懷孕女性的歧視包括解雇、強(qiáng)迫停薪留職、拒絕提供哺乳場(chǎng)所和禁止從事部分工作。 在通過(guò)1978年《懷孕歧視法案》幾十年之后，不管是普通員工，還是管理層，很大程度上依然存在性別成見(jiàn)。他們說(shuō)，對(duì)懷孕女性的歧視在美國(guó)各州都廣泛存在，而低收入職業(yè)女性更容易遭受歧視。 委員會(huì)委員康斯坦斯?巴克說(shuō)：“通過(guò)《懷孕歧視法案》后這么多年來(lái)，還是有雇主不理解該法案的基本要義。我們是否有效傳播了有關(guān)基本問(wèn)題的法規(guī)？” 職場(chǎng)女性歧視問(wèn)題在兩周前成為了眾人關(guān)注的焦點(diǎn)。一位來(lái)自休斯敦的母親稱(chēng)自己要求單位提供哺乳場(chǎng)所，結(jié)果被解雇，得克薩斯州的一名聯(lián)邦法官判決這位母親敗訴。 平等就業(yè)機(jī)會(huì)委員會(huì)幫助就這一案件進(jìn)行爭(zhēng)訟。總法律顧問(wèn)戴維?洛佩茨說(shuō)，委員會(huì)在考慮是否要對(duì)該判決提出上訴。 《懷孕歧視法案》禁止雇主的懷孕歧視行為，包括雇傭、解雇、發(fā)薪、工作分配和提升等各個(gè)方面。依據(jù)該法律，懷孕被視為暫時(shí)喪失勞動(dòng)能力的狀態(tài)。 證人說(shuō)，法律法規(guī)的重疊，例如《懷孕歧視法案》、1990年《美國(guó)殘疾人法案》和《家庭與醫(yī)療休假法案》，制造了灰色地帶，讓雇主不確定如何處理懷孕問(wèn)題。 他們說(shuō)，其中一個(gè)問(wèn)題是如何比較懷孕女性的待遇和其他員工的待遇。 美國(guó)海寶公司的人力總監(jiān)迪恩?伊路科維奇說(shuō)：“在我們看來(lái)，現(xiàn)行的法律有點(diǎn)混亂，某些情況下甚至自相矛盾?！焙毠臼切潞辈际矤栔轁h諾威一家生產(chǎn)金屬切割儀器的企業(yè)。 相關(guān)閱讀 韓國(guó)認(rèn)定性騷擾為“工傷” 受害女員工獲賠 外貌歧視引爭(zhēng)議：貌丑者應(yīng)受保護(hù) 歐盟：產(chǎn)婦每天應(yīng)有兩小時(shí)哺乳假 （中國(guó)日?qǐng)?bào)網(wǎng)英語(yǔ)點(diǎn)津 陳丹妮 編輯：Julie） |
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Vocabulary: shop floor: （工廠工人的）工作場(chǎng)所 get the word out: 散播、傳播消息，把消息傳開(kāi)去 litigate: 就……爭(zhēng)訟 appeal: 對(duì)……上訴 |
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