Facebook
COO Sheryl Sandberg has gone on record as saying that companies should be able
to ask women about their plans to have children.
Because
The Civil Rights Act of 1964 (commonly referred to as Title VII) prohibits employers
from discriminating again applicants and employees on the basis of sex, and the
Pregnancy Discrimination Act prohibits employers from discriminating against
applicants and employees on the basis of pregnancy, employers generally will
avoid this topic, so as not to appear biased and/or gain access to information
that could make them vulnerable to bias claims.
Now,
I don’t know Sandberg, and from what I’ve read she makes a very healthy living
doing what she does, so I have to assume she has good sense. And yet, when I
read her recommendation and then this statement, “Every HR department tells you
not to do that … but we need to have a much more open conversation …” I can’t
help thinking that Sandberg is an out-of-touch, boneheaded business leader who
doesn’t know her ass from her elbow.
These
laws are in place for a reason,
Sandberg, and they were enacted reactively,
meaning bad stuff happened and then someone decided that perhaps women
needed some protection against prejudice and bias in the workplace, even
beginning with the applicant process. And now you, Miss Smarty-Pants, want to
come along and say “Oh, silly HR! That’s old school! We’re all so much more evolved now!
We should be able to talk about these things openly!”
As
the Brits say, “Bollocks!”
On
Fox News this morning, Sabrina Schaeffer, Executive Director of the Independent
Women’s Forum, said she agreed with Sandberg. “The reality is that when women
take off time for maternity leave and when they have children and families … it
takes time away from the workplace. It has a real economic cost to business
that we need to consider.”
Wow.
Guess what Schaeffer? Broken arms cost companies money. So does cancer. And
bullies. And the flu.
Gee,
wouldn’t it be swell if during the interview process hiring managers could ask an
applicant, “Hey, has anyone in your immediate family ever died from cancer?
Because we sympathize, but those treatments are costly, and we’d rather keep our medical premiums down. You understand,
right?” Or, “You're not on any anxiety medication, are you? ‘Cause we have some real sons-of-bitches
working here, and they pretty much do whatever they want. Last year we even had a couple of employees file mental disability claims, and those can be a real drag on the balance sheet, you know? So let's chat now if you're the jumpy type, okay?"
I
bet these inquiries would save corporations all kinds of money! Sons of bitches indeed.
Oh
wait! I know how to avoid the irritating “economic cost” of families on business! How about we make sterilization
a condition of employment? Now just remember, what's good for the goose is good for the gander ...
Forgive
me. I’m hopping mad at this display of ignorance mystified how any
working woman could think this is a good idea.
No
wonder so many regular working folks hate
corporations. When I first began to experiment with blogging, I wrote an article about company
loyalty. In that article I argued that the corporate animal is strangely
hostile to humanity, and I was reminded of that argument when I read Sandberg’s
quote.
Sandberg,
do yourself a favor and leave the HR stuff to the HR pros, okay? We got this. And
as for you, Schaeffer … all I can say is ... ugh.
Brava.
ReplyDeleteThank you!
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