Interviewing Married Women: Should HR Ask About Pregnancy to Avoid Future Issues?

Dear All,

Greetings!

When a married woman is appearing for an HR interview, should HR address or ask about her conception or pregnancy (if she is married) rather than facing issues after selecting that female candidate?

Share your views.

Regards,
John N

Hi,

First of all, a very good question. You should, but in a tricky way. When you will ask to tell us about yourself, add some tricky questions such as what are your future plans, family plans, and such. It is a must to ask than to regret later.

Chetan

Dear All,

Greetings!

When a married woman is appearing for an HR interview, should HR address or ask about her conception or pregnancy (if she is married)? Rather than facing issues after selecting the female candidate.

Give your views.

Regards,
John N

Of course, we should ask, but with consideration for her femininity because as the employer, we will need to facilitate her and make alternative arrangements during her vacation for delivery.

Dear Mrs. 509eb,

Greetings!

Thank you for your views. However, I cannot hire a candidate for her replacement, and I cannot keep somebody on the bench solely due to pregnancy. If my viewpoint is incorrect, please provide your suggestions.

Regards,
John N

Dear All,

No, asking a female this question is not offensive. Rather, as HR professionals, we should approach this question with tact. "Where do you see yourself in the next 1/2/5 years?" She will definitely provide an answer based on her professional aspirations. After accepting her response, you can then ask a follow-up question, "...and what about your personal/family plans?" She might reveal her intentions at that point.

@ John,

I wonder why you cannot find a replacement for a female employee during her maternity leave. There are several options available:

- You can hire temporary staff through job consultants.
- You can implement job enrichment by assigning another employee(s) to handle her responsibilities until she returns.

Please correct me if I am mistaken.

Regards,
Parul

Dear Cite members,

It is extremely disheartening to see your attitudes towards female candidates. Family planning queries are unethical and too personal a matter to ask during interviews. Furthermore, it is a clear case for a candidate to sue your company for discrimination. It surprises me and, at the same time, gives me insight into the recruitment practices you follow.

Very disturbed,

Mukti

Dear All and Mukti,

I don't think it is unethical to ask questions about family planning and pregnancy. A company operates for business and profits, not to employ individuals who will go on leave within a month or a couple of months of joining. This applies to all, both women and men.

Men cannot expect to join a company and then take marriage leave for a month within one or two months of joining. Of course, the situation is different if a female employee has been with the organization for some time (at least a year) before getting pregnant.

However, if a female candidate does not disclose her pregnancy during an interview, is selected, joins, and then applies for maternity leave within a month or a couple of months, it is a clear case of unethical and unprofessional behavior on the part of the lady, not the company. The same expectation applies to men; they should disclose their marriage plans.

Cheers,
K

Dear Mukti,

I absolutely agree with Kmallick. I believe that you are only considering the humane side of HR. Not to forget, HR has to maintain that perfect balance between the employees and the management. You are not being unethical while asking about anybody's future plans. Our intention is not to delve into anybody's personal life, but we have to ensure our company's operations are running smoothly as well.

I hope you might agree.

Regards,
Parul

Dear Mrs509eb,

Greetings!

Thank you for your views. However, I cannot hire a candidate for her replacement, nor can I keep somebody on the bench solely due to pregnancy. If my perspective is incorrect, please provide your suggestions.

Best regards,
John N

Dear John,

We need to consider the existing female staff members already on the payroll as well. I always strive to support and accommodate my employees. When considering the induction of new female staff, it is essential to evaluate if she is crucial for the organization. If not, there may be alternative options available. It is important to consider both perspectives.

Thanks and regards,

In this age and era where women are excelling in all fields and where organizations talk (and most of them follow) of being equal opportunity employers, raising such a question is like going back to the Stone Age when women were homemakers and men were the breadwinners.

Today, when every field provides an equal opportunity for both genders, we should look at what contribution the female employees will make towards the success of the company, what skills they bring along to add value to the projects, etc., rather than mulling over whether they will get pregnant or not and what to do when they go on maternity leave.

All companies have their set policies, and there is a maternity leave benefit incorporated into them. Hence, if a female employee goes on maternity leave at a later date, I am sure the project manager she would be working with at that time will foresee this and make adequate arrangements to ensure that the project and/or work does not suffer.

Please understand, these are sensitive issues, and taking an insensitive approach might lead to future consequences for us as well as the organizations we work for.

Definitely, the factor involves with men much like the females bt to have a capable employee with you long is better than to sag her off just because she is pregnant. She can come back to work later on where in the meanwhile we can have a different candidate for the same time and there are lots of candidates available on contracts too I believe.

It's perfectly alright to ask a married female candidate about her family extension plans. Nobody wants to employ a candidate who will go on long leave within a year of joining. It has nothing to do with being biased against females; it's purely a fair HR practice.

Dear Richa,

Greetings!

It's not about going back to the old age and it's not about replacing all the female employees. If I recruit an unmarried candidate and she gets married after 6 months or a year, it won't cause any problems. The issue arises when recruiting a female candidate who is 2 or 4 months pregnant or conceives because initially, the project will be allocated to a candidate for a minimum of 6 months.

If I am mistaken, please share your perspective.

Regards,
John N

Hi John,

Most companies these days have a policy of recruiting female candidates who are in their first trimester as they strictly follow the equal opportunity employer policy. My company also adheres to this policy, and to date, we have not experienced any inconvenience. What we do is, when we hire such a candidate, we assign her to a project that will either be completed shortly or will not be negatively impacted if she goes on maternity leave.

You may want to consider formulating a similar policy and framing your questions in a way that does not offend the candidate while still obtaining the information you need. Ideally, if there is a woman on the interview panel, addressing this topic can be more easily navigated as women may find it more comfortable to respond to such questions when posed by another woman.

Hope the above information helps.

Kind regards, [Your Name]

Even being a newly married girl, I don't find anything unethical in asking about the family plans. It should, of course, be asked in the interview, though in a very professional language. Say, "As you are newly married, it is a must to ask about your extending your family. See, once you join, we won't be able to give you maternity leave before you work for us for one full year. What do you say? What are your plans?"

Priyanka

Dear Members,

Let's not get into the typical Indian herd and mind filled with emotions. Let's be practical and pragmatic. I absolutely don't think it is unethical to ask about the maternity plans of a female candidate, or for that matter, her marital plans. If a particular profile requires stability and continuous inputs, then, of course, however emotional and sensitive I become, I just cannot afford to take in a female candidate who is going on a long leave a few months after joining the organization. Let's not get into emotions and sensitiveness of the issue.

Regards,
Ajay

Dear all,

ELIGIBILITY FOR MATERNITY BENEFIT:

A woman shall be entitled to maternity benefits only if she has actually worked in an establishment of the employer for a period of not less than eighty days in the twelve months immediately preceding the date of her expected delivery (section 5[2]). Furthermore, asking questions related to family planning to prevent such situations is not unethical.

Thanks and Regards,
Namrata

This has been a most interesting discussion, and responses will reflect the social and cultural context of the respondent.

In my context (Australia), it would cause instant and very public outrage to ask a woman about her family plans as part of a selection process. 30 years ago, this was accepted practice, but the introduction of equal opportunity laws has caused a quiet revolution in this area.

The general view now, and I think a reasonable one, is that women have an enormous range of skills and capacities they bring to workplaces. To benefit fully from this depth of experience, wisdom, and knowledge, employers must focus on the competence of the individual with regard to the job.

Ideally, workplaces will increasingly make provision for the range of "outside work" responsibilities of both women and men and thereby better ensure that these competences are not lost to the workforce. "Flexitime" is a standard benefit for most employees, but there is now an increase in paid maternity leave, "carer's leave," and other kinds of flexibilities to allow for non-work responsibilities.

The current debate in Australia is how to better enable women to participate at senior and executive levels because with the family responsibilities that are often associated with life outside of work, the odds are considerably stacked against women.

It is my hope that in Australia, the rhetoric about equal opportunity increasingly becomes the reality. I think we have a long way to go.

Progress Enterprise

Resume & Curriculum Vitae Frameworks - Building on Strength

Dear Mukti,

There is no discrimination in asking such questions. It is only in the interest of both the employer and employee.

Regards,
Ravikanth

This particular instance relates to infringement of "fundamental rights".

Few amongst you would be aware of the Data Protection Act.

Asking about personal info like pregnancy, political affiliations, family obligations, any prison records, religion, etc., is wrong and is clearly not supported or encouraged worldwide.

Now the second part which comes up is: How to plan for the same?

I would like to raise another contingency situation out here: How does your company handle a situation like riots in the city? Do you have a business plan which addresses and mitigates the same? The answer would be NO in the majority of companies.

What does a manager do most of the time?

Answer: Planning.

So, plan and work out various methods and alternatives for the same.

Have none of you heard about "home working" or telecommuting?

I personally can cite a few examples wherein Heads of HR in India's top-ranking corporates are females and have planned their careers effectively, and the compensation remains almost the same while working a few hours/working from home.

Another example would be raised by the Factories Act, 1948.

Does it not ask for arrangements for creche/medical facilities, even to the extent that work given preceding pregnancy should be safe?

I would advise everyone to check the attrition rate of "physically challenged" people in the workplace. Corporates that have hired them have gained much by pure economics alone.

Last but not least, one of my esteemed colleagues has made an unwarranted statement about the "character of women" being lost in the eventuality of hiding/suppressing pregnancy-related facts.

My answer to all my colleagues who share this opinion and to this gentleman in particular is, "Have you not been born of a woman?"

It is most shameful that people deify goddesses in all religions while harassing womenfolk at home/work.

Surya vrat

Dear Surya, Greetings!

Thanks for your views. I am a practical man where I don't want my company to suffer because of this issue. Because after recruiting a female candidate and allocating her to a project for 1 year, if she comes and says in the middle of the second month that she wants to leave due to pregnancy, I have to give and search for a replacement. It's a total waste of time and cost. I am not ashamed to ask this question.

Don't try to use harsh words if you are a gentleman. I am a gentleman. I don't want to face a problem; instead, I want to rectify or overcome the problem. It's better if you are not interested, don't say whatever you think. This is not a debate to oppose or a crime to find out the negative and criticize others' character. Who are you to ask whether it's shameful or not? You are not supposed to say things like this if you think you are a gentleman.

Regards, John N

Dear John,

The Indian Constitution has given certain fundamental rights to every citizen, but the majority of people forget that there are fundamental duties involved. Can we preserve flora and fauna without having educated people who fulfill their underlying duties?

As an advisor for SA 8000/ ETI/ WRAP/ GRI, I advise on the best practices worldwide.

Let me appraise you on the legal aspect:

Section 509 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) comes into effect when there is an intention to insult the modesty of any woman by the offender through uttering any word, making any sound or gesture, or by exhibiting any object, with the intention that such word or sound be heard, or that such gesture or object be seen by such a woman, or by intruding upon the privacy of such a woman.

Thus, this section requires:

1. Intention to insult the modesty of a woman.
2. The insult is caused by:
i) Uttering any word or gesture, or
ii) Exhibiting any object with the intention that such word, gesture, or object be heard or seen by such a woman, or
iii) By intruding upon the privacy of such a woman.

John, a sincere piece of advice for you: please don't make statements like branding someone as having a loose character just because the person lied.

Finally, rationalizing or engaging in fruitless debates has never helped anybody; therefore, I choose to disengage.

Surya Vrat Rana

Dear Surya,

Greetings!

In my post, I am not insulting a gender or discouraging anybody. It's just my query because I faced a problem. So, I want to rectify the problem. That's why I have posted this query on this site. Because of this post, I am not against any gender or protesting against any others.

To my knowledge, I am not opposing or insulting anybody. Even all have replied to this post equally.

Regards,
John N