For many people in professional work settings, uniforms still make up a big part of workplace culture. And for women, these uniforms can sometimes seem tighter fitting and slimmer than most.
This potentially creates a problem when a pregnant worker is no longer able to wear the usual uniform, causing their supervisor or even employer to take notice.
Defining pregnancy discrimination
The New York Times goes into detail discussing the rights of pregnant workers. By definition, pregnancy discrimination laws help a person to keep their job which may otherwise end up jeopardized based solely on a worker’s state of pregnancy.
In short, if a person loses their job because they cannot wear a uniform anymore due to pregnancy, this serves as a textbook definition of pregnancy discrimination.
Underhanded tactics as discrimination
However, an employer may go through other, less obvious means in order to handle a pregnant employee not wearing a uniform. For some, they may make it seem mandatory to wear a uniform that a pregnant person can no longer comfortably wear even if they have no legal recourse to actualize this threat.
In other cases, an employer may try to create a toxic work environment to try encouraging the pregnant worker to quit of their own volition. They may do so by creating an environment where they do not feel comfortable either in their uniform or in another outfit.
This is still a form of pregnancy discrimination even if it is less overt, especially when it makes it impossible for the worker to continue fulfilling their job duties. Workers facing such conditions should consider taking action against their employers.