When we got married and began our new life in Australia, my husband and I decided not to wait to have a baby. Sure we thought about the consequences of what a baby would do to my career, but I felt that we were ready and should begin right away.
With this in mind, I began to search for a job that would not be too stressful or require long hours and late nights. I was ecstatic when two months into my job search, I was hired as a social media manager. Even better, my husband and I soon found out that I was pregnant! But although I was bursting at the seams to tell the world, I believed in the first trimester pantang and chose to wait before informing friends and colleagues.
The moment to break the joyous news soon came when I could no longer pretend that my growing belly was the result of too many burgers.
So imagine my disappointment when the very next day after informing my superior about the pregnancy, I was told that for my health and safety, my hours would be reduced and my entire employment may be terminated within a month!
I was devastated. And despite being thrilled about the progress of the pregnancy and physically well, I spent many sleepless nights feeling powerless, vulnerable and fearful about our little family’s financial security.
But according to a recent Human Rights Australia report on pregnancy discrimination, my situation was not uncommon. One in two women report experiencing discrimination in the workplace during their pregnancy, after requesting or while on parental leave, or upon returning to work. Many women lose their jobs, have their hours reduced or find that they’ve been demoted because they are pregnant. There was even a woman who was limited to only a certain number of toilet breaks even though she was pregnant!
Make no mistake, this happens in Malaysia too. In 2011, an untrained relief teacher won a landmark case against the Malaysian government when her month-to-month contract was terminated on the grounds that she had become pregnant. In another example, a particular airline forces female stewardesses to take unpaid maternity leave no later than two months into pregnancy. That’s seven months of a reduced income for a husband and wife just because they chose to take the perfectly natural step of beginning a family.
Granted, there are some very real challenges faced by employers and businesses in managing pregnancy and parental leave in the workplace. Pulling back to the bigger picture however, it is obvious that this form of discrimination will have a negative effect on the retention of women in workplaces. The very real costs of this is not only borne by the parents and families involved. There is an obvious cost in workplace productivity, the economy and society as a whole.
But what may seem the hardest and is probably the most common among those of us who’ve faced this form of discrimination is having our abilities and commitment to our jobs questioned. When this happens, we begin to doubt ourselves and our skills. Feeling demeaned, disempowered and most of all demoralised is hard for anyone, much less a new mum.
Some women choose to deal with this by fighting back with lawsuits and compensation demands. I have to admit though, that I didn’t possess the emotional strength to do the same. And sadly like some women, I remained silent because I feared it would hurt future employment opportunities.
Instead, I’ve fought hard to rise from the pit of despair and remind myself of who I am and what abilities I possess. I know I have to get over what has happened and start anew. To look for a silver lining – perhaps get started on that dream job. Or simply lie in bed and appreciate that even though it’s a Monday, I’m only getting up at 10am. It’s going to be a tough journey ahead but who said motherhood or being a woman was easy.
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Sasha Menon is Gombak girl who gave up a career in advertising and moved to Sydney to be with her husband. She’s currently finding her footing in the big city while daydreaming of introducing her unborn child to kuih badak berendam.
