On the policy of pregnancy discrimination in the Netherlands and its implementation.
Sophie, 13462237
13th of October 2023
(Pauw, 2018)
Imagine, participating in a job interview that you are more than qualified for but the question of wanting children is brought up. For the other candidates the simple answer of ‘yes, possibly’ is not a hurdle, but you are not a man. Sadly, the reality of pregnancy discrimination is a current issue women on the Dutch labor market face.
Pregnancy discrimination on the current labor market
According to the Ministry of Justice and Safety (2022) 43% of the female labor market participants are faced with discrimination based on motherhood or pregnancy. The term pregnancy discrimination hereby describes a wide range of experiences including asking women about the pregnancy and motherhood during a job interview, the termination of contracts, different treatment in the workplace and being excluded in a promotion selection due to pregnancy (Ministerie van Justitie en Veiligheid, 2022). Many women experiencing pregnancy discrimination do not recognize this form of discrimination. Even a smaller number of women act upon the discrimination (Zwangerschapsdiscriminatie, z.d.). In order to protect women the Dutch government has implemented different laws, forbidding employers to fire employees who are pregnant (Zwanger en werk: dat baart zorgen – Derde onderzoek naar discriminatie op de arbeidsmarkt van zwangere vrouwen en moeders met jonge kinderen | College voor de Rechten van de Mens, z.d.). Despite these laws, women still secretly face the same issues. Therefore the Dutch government implemented an additional policy, written in the ‘Actieplan Arbeidsmarktdiscriminatie’. This policy has been implemented since 2018 (Ministerie van Binnenlandse Zaken en Koninkrijksrelaties, 2021).
On both sides
This set of policies, written in the ‘Actieplan Arbeidsmarktdiscriminatie’, relies heavily on the concept of awareness for both employers and employees. Hereby women should be informed throughout campaigns of their rights surrounding pregnancy and work, relying on the percentage of women unaware of this form of discrimination. In order to increase the number of women reporting unequal treatment, the policy aims to educate women on organizations where they can report pregnancy discrimination (Ministerie van Algemene Zaken, 2023). With the increase of awareness women are expected to speak up against pregnancy discrimination. Thereby tackling the problem.
On the side of the employers, the policy determines the duty of the employers to inform their pregnant employees about their rights during a pregnancy. The government strives to provide companies with accurate information on pregnancy discrimination. Through inspection companies are investigated if they comply with the policy. Under the suspicion of pregnancy discrimination companies risk a fine (Ministerie van Algemene Zaken, 2023). With a shortage of research on the effect of the policy for companies, it can be questioned how this policy is implemented on the side of the employers.
In practice
In a conversation with a senior HRM policy advisor, working in the field of education, I discussed the topic of pregnancy discrimination within her company. The first point which seems of importance is the sort of field you are discussing in terms of pregnancy discrimination. As she states that the field of education is usually ruled by women, with a 80% women and 20% men ratio within her company.
During the process of hiring, companies are obliged to follow an application code. Employers are therefore forbidden from asking questions surrounding the topic of pregnancy and children (Ministerie van Justitie en Veiligheid, 2022). Naturally, the company of the interviewee adheres to these rules, which leads to the statement: “Pregnancy and motherhood is not an issue here. We don’t ask about personal circumstances during an application.”
Even though more than half of the pregnant women on the labor market have experience with the dissolvement of their temporary contract or the dismissal of a fixed contract (Veldman & Wolff, 2017), the interviewee does not recognize this picture within her company. Stating that pregnant women are also offered fixed contracts. Pregnant or postpartum women within her company are supported with the access to a special pumping room and the rights to more breaks based on doctor advice. This is in line with the policy implemented by the government, as employers have to provide these facilities (Ministerie van Algemene Zaken, 2023).
Interestingly, the policy imposed by the government is not recognized by the interviewee. Hereby she states that her company has not seen any changes in policy and are not enforced on the topic of pregnancy discrimination. She then raises the question how the ‘Actieplan Arbeidsmarktdiscriminatie’ wants to check companies on pregnancy discrimination, since companies will not give pregnancy as the reason for firing. In the conversation she sheds light on the problem of HR advisors. Instead of awareness, could the government concretely help and inspire companies? How do companies handle the need to fill a vacancy in the short term, if they hire a pregnant woman who will leave for maternity leave shortly?
Even though her company hires pregnant women she recognizes the problem of pregnancy and motherhood discrimination in the other sectors. This complies to her work experience in the financial sector, where she was not hired due to an unforeseen pregnancy during her application. When asked if she reported the discrimination the interviewee stated that she could understand the company and did not feel like reporting them would make a difference.
So?
The Dutch government aims to tackle pregnancy and motherhood discrimination on the labor market by an awareness policy. Therefore educating employers and employees on the rights surrounding pregnancy.
Due to the absence of current progress reports on the effect of the policy, it remains difficult to make conclusions about the efficiency of the policy. In regards to the employers, they are forbidden to let financial concerns and decreasing employment play a role in the hiring policy in regard to pregnant women (Ministerie van Justitie en Veiligheid, 2023).
However in the pregnancy discrimination policy companies are not offered assistance in the problem of decreasing employment. When looking at the implementation of the enforcement of the policy the ‘Actieplan Arbeidsmarktdiscriminatie’ has yet to illustrate a concrete plan. Hereby the example of the educational sector illustrates as an example of inclusion, while raising questions on the matter of implementation.
Literature
Ministerie van Algemene Zaken. (2023, March 6). Tegengaan van discriminatie bij zwangerschap op het werk. Gelijke behandeling op het werk | Rijksoverheid.nl. Retrieved October 7, 2023, from https://www.rijksoverheid.nl/onderwerpen/gelijke-behandeling-op-het-werk/gelijke-behandeling-bij-zwangerschap-op-het-werk.
Ministerie van Binnenlandse Zaken en Koninkrijksrelaties. (2021, November 18). Kamerbrief Voortgang Actieplan arbeidsmarktdiscriminatie 2018-2021. Kamerstuk | Rijksoverheid.nl. Retrieved October 12, 2023, from https://www.rijksoverheid.nl/onderwerpen/gelijke-behandeling-op-het-werk/documenten/kamerstukken/2020/07/06/kamerbrief-voortgang-actieplan-arbeidsmarktdiscriminatie-2018-2021
Ministerie van Justitie en Veiligheid. (2022, August 18). Zwanger en werk. Gendergelijkheid | College voor de Rechten van de Mens. Retrieved October 11, 2023, from https://www.mensenrechten.nl/themas/gendergelijkheid/zwanger-en-werk
Ministerie van Justitie en Veiligheid. (2023, July 11). Hoe gender(on)gelijk is Nederland? het hardnekkige probleem van zwangerschapsdiscriminatie. Nieuwsbericht | College voor de Rechten van de Mens. Retrieved October 12, 2023, from https://www.mensenrechten.nl/actueel/nieuws/2023/07/08/hoe-genderongelijk-is-nederland-het-hardnekkige-probleem-van-zwangerschapsdiscriminatie
Pauw, M. (2018, april 18). Zwanger op het werk? Dit zijn je rechten (meer dan je denkt). RTL Nieuws. Retrieved October 10, 2023, from https://www.rtlnieuws.nl/geld-en-werk/artikel/3909276/zwanger-op-het-werk-dit-zijn-je-rechten-meer-dan-je-denkt
Veldman, A. G., & de Wolff, D. J. B. (2017). ‘Privatisering’ van arbeidsmarktbeleid in relatie tot de arbeidsovereenkomst voor bepaalde tijd. Tijdschrift Recht en Arbeid, 9(10), 6-11
Zwanger en werk: dat baart zorgen – Derde onderzoek naar discriminatie op de arbeidsmarkt van zwangere vrouwen en moeders met jonge kinderen | College voor de Rechten van de Mens. (z.d.). Retrieved October 11, 2023, from https://publicaties.mensenrechten.nl/publicatie/5fb7dfef1e0fec037359c640
Zwangerschapsdiscriminatie. (z.d.). Retrieved October 11, 2023, from https://www.womeninc.nl/zwangerschapsdiscriminatie/
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