It probably wasn’t the announcement Soundos El Ahmadi had hoped for: Wednesday, the actress said she missed a role after telling the production company she was pregnant. It invokes the Working Conditions Act. When does your employer protect you and when is it common pregnancy discrimination?
Door Anna JacobsIn the Netherlands it is prohibited to treat an employee differently because she is pregnant or can or wants to become pregnant. Pregnancy is protected by the Equal Treatment of Men and Women Act against discrimination on the grounds of sex.
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In practice, this means, among other things, that as an employee you are not obliged to state during a job application that you want to have children or that you are pregnant. “In fact, pregnant employees are only obliged to report this to their employer three weeks before they go on maternity leave,” says company doula Ina Heijnen.
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If a pregnancy has a negative impact on the outcome, there is pregnancy discrimination. In concrete terms: if the second-best candidate without wanting children is chosen and the best candidate with wanting children is not given a position, there is pregnancy discrimination.
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Guidelines to protect pregnant workers
Health and safety guidelines for pregnancy at work have also been drawn up by the Ministry of Social Affairs and Employment. An employer is obliged to organize the work for the pregnant employee in such a way that there are no harmful consequences for the pregnancy.
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When you sign for a role as an actor, the contract often states whether you have to meet certain external requirements.
This means that pregnant employees must limit physical strain as much as possible up to six months after giving birth, are entitled to extra breaks and do not have to be used for night shifts. They also have the right to refuse irregular work or overtime.
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In the case of actress El Ahmadi, the production company invokes this Working Conditions Act. “The shooting period may take place when Soundos is heavily pregnant. The physically demanding role as a youth football trainer would then be risky for herself, her baby and for the film production,” Media Brothers shares in a statement.
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To grow a beard or not
Pepijn ten Kate works for the Kunstenbond, an organization that works to strengthen the position of workers in the cultural and creative sector. “Pregnancy discrimination should of course never take place,” he says firmly.
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A desire to have children or pregnancy means that you sometimes have to make compromises, also in the workplace.
“But: different things play a role specifically in this sector. Suppose you have just become pregnant and you are asked for a film in which the character is not or cannot be pregnant. The recordings will take place in six months, so you know that you have an unmistakable pregnant belly or are even on leave.”
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“Then a set of problems causes problems. I can imagine that there are situations where risks can arise for a pregnant woman and the unborn baby. For example, if stunts have to be performed. Then it is understandable if a client says: that risk we don’t want to take, we protect you from that.”
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