Recruiting

May I Refuse to Hire a Pregnant Applicant?

Yesterday’s Advisor discussed interviewing candidates with disabilities; today, more on disabilities and pregnancy, plus an introduction to an extraordinary collection of pre-written job descriptions.

Pregnancy and the Interview

During the interview, do not ask candidates about whether they are pregnant, whether they have any pregnancy plans, or what their plans are for a family.

But what if the applicant reveals that she is pregnant? According to Lynn C. Outwater, managing partner of the Pittsburgh office of law firm Jackson-Lewis, even if the applicant reveals her pregnancy, interviewers should make no further inquiries about the subject.

Some managers think that if the applicant is pregnant they should be able to refuse to hire, because the applicant will be missing weeks of work right after starting.

It is stereotypical to assume that an employee will become incapacitated simply because she is pregnant, says Outwater. Some women do indeed work up to the day they go to the hospital to deliver their babies, and return to work the next week. They really miss no work at all.

Even though 6 to 8 weeks of leave does appear to be the norm, Outwater says, one can’t presume that every female needs that much time. That’s the whole point of discrimination laws—we can’t presume.


Step … away … from the keyboard! Your job descriptions are already written. Click here to see why thousands of managers have a permanent place in their offices for BLR’s classic Job Descriptions Encyclopedia.


What You Can Ask

There are some questions that employers may ask.  For example, employers can ask questions like:

  • Are you available to work?
  • Are you available to travel?
  • Is there any reason you can’t perform the essential functions of the position with or without reasonable accommodation?

These are good and lawful questions, Outwater says. We can always ask about an applicant’s ability to perform the essential functions of the job. For example, “This job entails night work and Saturdays. Are you available to work these hours, days, shifts?”

Travel questions are also lawful when travel is part of the job. But remember, if you only ask these questions of certain people, for example, just females, or just females of child-bearing years, you are making assumptions that are illegal, stereotypical, and inappropriate, says Outwater.

If the candidate says, “No, I can’t meet the requirements,” then that’s a legitimate reason for not hiring.

In general, says Outwater, treat pregnant women the same way you treat any other employee with a disability.

Of course, this all points up the critical role of the job description. You can’t hope to get through the interview maze without a clear statement of the essential functions of the job. Like many things in HR, interviewing begins with the job description. How about your job descriptions? Are they well-written, up-to-date, and ADA-compliant? Detailed enough to help? Essential skills delineated?

If not—or if you’ve never even written job descriptions—you’re not alone. Thousands of companies fall short in this area.

It’s easy to understand why. Job descriptions are not simple to do—what with updating and management and legal review, especially given the ADA requirement of a split-off of essential functions from other functions in the description. Wouldn’t it be great if your job descriptions were available and already written?

Actually, they are. We have more than 700, ready to go, covering every common position in any organization, from receptionist right up to president. They are in an extremely popular BLR program called the Job Descriptions Encyclopedia.

First created in the 1980s, the “JDE” has been continually refined and updated over time, with descriptions revised or added each time the law, technology—or the way we do business—changes.


Prewritten job descriptions in the Job Descriptions Encyclopedia now come with pay grades already attached. Click here to try the program at no cost.


Revised for the ADA, Pay Grades Updated

There was a major revision, for example, following the passage of the ADA. In fact, BLR editors reviewed every one of those 700 descriptions to ensure they were ADA-compliant.

Another enhancement was the updating of pay grades for each job. According to our customers, this is an enormous time-saver, enabling them to make compensation decisions even as they define the position. You can see a sample job description from the program by clicking here. (Yes, it is the one for HR Manager—Pay grade: 37.)

The BLR Job Descriptions Encyclopedia also includes an extensive tutorial on setting up a complete job descriptions program, and how to encourage participation from all parts of the organization. That includes top management, the employees, and any union or other collective bargaining entity.

Quarterly Updates, No Additional Cost

Very important these days, quarterly updates are included in the program as a standard feature—key at a time of constantly changing laws and emerging technologies. We’ll send you new or revised descriptions every 90 days. And the cost is extremely reasonable, averaging less than 43 cents per job description … already written, legally reviewed, and ready to adapt or use as is.

You can evaluate BLR’s Job Descriptions Encyclopedia at no cost in your office for up to 30 days. Get more information or order the Job Descriptions Encyclopedia.

Download product sample
Download list of job descriptions included

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