Business

The Pregnancy Discrimination Act

The Pregnancy Discrimination Act, which was passed in 1978, gives pregnant women the same rights as others with "medical conditions" by prohibiting job discrimination. This law, which applies to companies employing 15 or more people, says…

* Your employer cannot fire you because you are pregnant.

* Your employer cannot force you to take mandatory maternity leave.

* You must be granted the same health, disability, and sickness-leave benefits as any other employee who has a medical condition.

* You must be given modified tasks, alternate assignments, disability leave, or leave without pay (depending on company policy).

* You are allowed to work as long as you can perform your job.

* You are guaranteed job security during your leave.

* During your leave, you continue to accrue seniority and remain eligible for pay increases and benefits.

This is a discrimination law that protects you from being treated differently than other employees. On the one hand, this is good, but it also means that if your company doesn't provide job security or benefits to other employees, it doesn't have to provide them to you.

As an alternative to judges or courts settling disputes between consumers and businesses, binding arbitration works out a deal through an independent, third-party body. Binding arbitration may save time, money, and energy when two parties disagree over a contract, the performance of a service, or the exchange of goods. The arbitrator's decision is final and cannot be disputed or appealed.

Businesses often prefer to resolve claims through binding arbitration because it is usually more private, and helps to avoid possible bad publicity that could erupt in a trial. They are also not bound to certain legal requirements, such as "discovery," whereby the persons involved in the claim have access to otherwise private information. Increasingly, lenders and distributors are requiring consumers to sign...