Health complications or concerns can come up during pregnancy that lead women to seek additional care, leading them to receive a note from their doctor requesting a change of duties or other requests to employers. Unfortunately, this can also lead to termination or unpaid leave.
As The New York Times pointed out, sometimes these unfortunate repercussions can be due to how and when a doctors’ note is actually written.
Five doctors and a lawyer noted in a commentary published in Obstetrics and Gynecology that the timing of when a note is provided and how vague or extreme the recommendations are, it could backfire with an employer.
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“We can do harm if we are not careful when writing these notes for patients,” Dr. Rebecca Jackson, the lead author and the chief of obstetrics and gynecology at San Francisco General Hospital told The Times.
In roughly 70 percent of pregnancy-related cases investigated by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission over the last decade, a female employee was fired. Doctors’ notes often play a pivotal role in employment conflicts, Dr. Jackson and her colleagues said.
Part of the issue is that a note from the doctor could be pre-emptive or make the gravity of the situation seem more extreme. So ideally, according to the report, doctors should spend more time figuring out what a patient’s job duties actually entail and focus on specificity that matches the particular case.
As The Times reported:
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Dr. Laura Riley, the medical director of labor and delivery at Massachusetts General Hospital, has had some patients in the often-uncomfortable third trimester ask to stop working at 38 weeks, after a few preterm contractions. Some workplaces will accept the note and not penalize pregnant workers who take leave a week or two before delivery.
However, “many people don’t have that luxury, and they don’t know it until they take in a note,” Dr. Riley said. “Then they are denied, or worse, someone says: ‘Oh you can’t do your job? Then I don’t have a job for you.’”
Some women just want some relatively simple adjustments made to their daily tasks, but with a note and depending on their job, they risk the unfortunate alternative. But beyond that, about 40 percent of workers are not even eligible for unpaid leave. And both scenarios can lead to legal ramifications.
Employment lawyer, Sharon Gustafson, shared about this with The Times.
In one prominent legal case, Peggy Young, a former employee of the United Parcel Service, was told to get a note, said Ms. Gustafson, her lawyer. Her doctor recommended that her lifting of parcels heavier than 20 pounds be restricted.
Instead, U.P.S. placed Ms. Young on unpaid leave. She sued for discrimination; in March, the case was reinstated by the Supreme Court.
Although in many cases complications with employers might be unavoidable, clearly both pregnant women and the doctors who treat them need to be very mindful of how to address these situations when they arise.
Photo: Flickr user Daniel Lobo