ALTHOUGH being pregnant is every woman’s pride, sometimes it becomes difficult to get a new job during that time. When Peninah (not real name,) a banker, got pregnant, she was optimistic of saving enough for her baby because she knew she was destined to be a single mother. But fate was having other ideas.
“At first I thought it was a joke when I was told to resign,” Penny, now a mother of a one-year-old baby boy, recalls with nostalgia. “I was four months along, so I found myself job hunting. It was scary. I thought no employer would even agree to interview me with the bulge.”
Pennie, who could not wait until after her maternity to search for another job because she did not want to rely on her boyfriend who was pushing for cohabitation, says no one mentioned the pregnancy in the interviews. She was back in the tellers’ booth a month later.
Although pregnancy can be planned in accordance with career goals, the bitter reality is that there is never an ideal time to conceive. Like Penny, you can find yourself out of a job when you are expecting. If this happened and you are the kind who was self-reliant, then an immediate job-hunt would be the ultimate decision. Sadly again, this decision leaves most women concerned about how they are going to conduct the job hunt with a bulge.
Silent questions like ‘can I be hired when there are other qualified people who would not take maternity leave soon after taking up the job?’ begin to haunt the expectant mother. Although this discrimination is illegal, it is a reality, especially in Third World countries.
Albert Kakama, the human resource manager of Uganda Management Institute (UMI), says organisations have different employment policies. “Most will not malice a lady because of pregnancy. They stand by the labour law and a pregnant person should walk freely to the interview room and is likely be considered on merit.”
Informal and formal private sector players like banks, telecom firms, breweries are profit-oriented, so they may have a different policy. Although Florence Mawejje, the human resources manager of MTN, admits that pregnancy may increase one’s chances of being discriminated against, merit should suffice if one is really good.
“A pregnant woman showing stands an equal chance. We have recruited women who are pregnant,” she argues.
Kakamwa says: “We have recruited staff during their eighth-ninth months of pregnancy.”
Barbara Senkatuka, the secretary general of the Human Resources Association of Uganda, says: “A competent employer looks beyond a short-term situation to see if the job-seeker has good skills, competencies and presents herself well.” Senkatuka says: “If you are confident of your skills, your short-term condition will fade as their desire for you grows,” she says.
This stand is echoed by Moses Thenge, the human resources manager of Kakira Sugar Works. “Coincidentally, when you called, I was interviewing the best candidate who is joining us but is seven-months pregnant.”
“The only exception is when there is an organisation needs to fill a vacancy immediately,” Thenge says.
However, there remains the thorny issue of disclosure. Should you disclose your status in your CV, during the interview or after the negotiations?
“There is no right time for disclosure, but she can do so when the job is offered because most organisations have clear policies for handling that,” Senkatuka concludes.