If you're pregnant, do you have to tell your boss? |
A Sydney warehouse worker fired by text message within two weeks of telling her employer she was pregnant has won her job back, along with A$15,000 in backpay.
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The recent Fair Work Commission ruling about an Adecco contractor working at an Amazon warehouse highlights how employers and employees can interpret the rules on pregnancy and workplace discrimination very differently - sometimes leading to disputes.
Whether you're newly pregnant or you're a boss trying to look after your staff, these are the legal rights and obligations you need to know about.
No, you don't. As the Sex Discrimination Act makes clear, an employer can't ask you about it either.
Even indirect questions - "Are you planning to have a baby in the future?" - are not allowed.
No. When you tell them will depend on your job, your pregnancy and your preferences.
But you might want to tell your boss if you need some adjustments for the pregnancy, such as if you do a lot of physical work or travel that's not possible in your particular circumstances.
Under the law, employees can't be discriminated against because they're pregnant.
But discrimination often isn't as obvious as being fired or demoted.
In a 2022 study, we found about 14 per cent of calls to a Victorian employment rights service were about pregnancy........