Labor & Employment Law

Maternal Profiling - a Buzzword with a Serious Meaning

By Michael Fitzgibbon

The New York Times article All We Are Saying listed a number of buzzwords that came into the lexicon in 2007.  Among these was maternal profiling which the Times defined as:

Employment discrimination against a woman who has, or will have, children. The term has been popularized by members of MomsRising, an advocacy group promoting the rights of mothers in the workplace.

There's an article on MomsRising called Maternal Profiling:  A New York Times Buzzword that discusses the issue in more detail.

The matters identified in the article may not have the same impact in Canada as may be the case in the US due, in part, to the legislative protection afforded parents and families in Canada such as (depending upon the province) pregnancy and parental leave, emergency leave and family leave.  There is also, of course, human rights protection. 

The Ontario Human Rights Commission has a Policy and Guidelines on Discrimination Because of Family Status and there is a considerable amount of helpful information on the Commission's website (here is a sampling)

Donna Seale over at Human Rights in the Workplace has a detailed post on this topic in which she reviews the status of some recent cases.

The issue of discrimination on the basis of family status is certainly one that should be on every employers' radar screen in 2008.

Full post as published by Thoughts from a Management Lawyer on January 04, 2008 (boomark / email).