We’ve always thought so, but now it’s official!
According to a Wall Street Article, Pregnancy is contagious in the office!
Zutano, one of our favorite children’s and baby clothing manufacturers, had almost a third of their employees pregnant at the same time!
This could definitely present some workplace challenges!
The proportion of pregnant women who are in the labor force has been edging higher for most of the past three decades, and trend may be accelerating: 61% of expectant or new mothers were in the labor force in 2008, up from 56% to 57% in the preceding three years, according to the Census Bureau’s American Community Survey. For employers, that brings an array of challenges—from scheduling and planning around doctor appointments, childbirth and parental leave, to enlisting co-workers to step up and fill in for new parents.
Indeed, many companies don’t handle pregnancy all that well. Women complain about being laid off shortly after they reveal their pregnancies, or being written off for promotions or demoted. Federal data suggest many expectant mothers encounter problems at work: a near-record 6,196 pregnancy-discrimination complaints were filed last year, up 11% from 5,587 in 2007 and just slightly below 2008’s record high of 6,285, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission says.
Some companies, though, are finding benefits from managing expectant employees. The nimbleness required to handle the multiple pregnancies in the short term, these businesses say, can give rise to cross-training and teamwork that deepen their bench of talent in the long term. Companies that deliberately try to retain new parents, through flexibility, child-care help or babies-at-work programs, say the policies lure women back early from maternity leave, foster loyalty and heighten their allure to skilled recruits.
As a mainly female company, we are glad to see others joining in and working around this issue.
Women are such a powerful force in the workplace, making their lives a bit easier and fulfilling will ultimately benefit them, their families and the companies they work for.
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