Airline shamed for making prospective employees take a pregnancy test
The idea of an employer asking you if you’re pregnant – or planning to be soon – is a terrible enough scenario to imagine.
But one airline, it turns out, not only asked this but even required its female employees to take a pregnancy test before being hired.
Iberia claimed that the tests were for the sake of safety, since women nearing the end of their pregnancy are advised not to travel.
But the company has now said it will drop this practice after being fined for discrimination.
After much criticism, the company was fined 25,000 euros (£22,000) by Balearic Island officials, according to The New York Times.
The test was part of series employees must pass, including a medical examination which for women included a pregnancy test.
The Unión General de Trabajadores, one of Spain’s main labour unions, posted on its website that “in no case can this information be requested from a person who aspires to be an airline worker and there is no reason to justify it.
“Ultimately, UGT censors any measure or request for information that, in a process of selection of personnel, can condition the applicant’s possibilities by reason of gender.
“We would, of course, be faced with a clear case of discrimination.”
Iberia’s health and safety officer, Dr Maria Teresa Garcia Menendez, also said in a statement: “Given the sensitivity of the current protocol for the protection of pregnant women, we will no longer include the pregnancy test at the medical admission examination.
“However, we will continue to put all necessary measures to ensure that pregnant women work with all the guarantees and maximum safety, as we have done so far.”
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