Working Mothers: How to Say "No" to Unfair Treatment

Originally published in China Youth magazine,No. 17, 202 1.

Editor's note:

Since the beginning of 2 1 century, there has been a major turning point in China's population development. The results of the seventh population census show that the growth trend of China's total population has obviously weakened, and the growth rate has remained low since 10; The proportion of children has increased, the proportion of working-age population has decreased, and the degree of population aging has further deepened; The family size tends to be smaller, and the function of supporting the elderly and children is weakened. In 2020, the total fertility rate in China is only 1.3.

On 20021May 3 1, the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee reviewed the Decision on Optimizing the Birth Policy to Promote the Long-term Balanced Development of the Population, and made a major decision on the policy and supporting measures for a couple to have three children. This is the third major adjustment of China's birth policy in recent years after the one-child policy and the universal two-child policy.

A stone stirs up a thousand waves. Related news instantly rushed to the top of the hot search list, and social media such as friends circle also frequently brushed the screen. There are young people teasing, and seven aunts and eight aunts have new conversation materials. From unmarried birth, married birth, and one child giving birth to a second child, a brand-new copy of "giving birth to a second child without giving birth to a third child" has been developed.

Admittedly, it is a problem to allow children, but whether they can have children is a serious practical problem. So what are young people worried about? Are those three-baby homes really as maddening as they thought? To this end, we approached young people of childbearing age and listened to their statements.

To solve the population problem, we need to break through the narrow understanding of "having children". This is not only the task of the mother or the younger generation, but the common responsibility of the family, society and the country.

Special Report ⑤ "Meeting the Three-Child Age Together"

Working Mothers: How to Say "No" to Unfair Treatment

High-cost lawsuit, fight or not?

20 19 is an earth-shaking year for Xiaoyan.

This year, she ushered in her favorite little life, and before she could taste the joy from the war, she fell into a messy dispute.

"When I first joined the company, I talked about the salary 1800 plus performance salary, with an average monthly salary of 8000+, and paid five insurances and one gold normally. During my pregnancy, I was afraid of causing trouble to my unit and colleagues, so I tried my best to do everything. Before taking maternity leave, I handed over my work in advance and made the matters clear. During the maternity leave, the company paid my basic salary 1800 yuan every month, and received my maternity allowance 19000 yuan from the relevant units, while the maternity allowance I received was only 13000 yuan. " Xiao Li was puzzled by this, so he proposed labor arbitration and asked the company to fulfill its due responsibilities and obligations according to law.

The final result of this farce was that the court ruled that the employer made up the deducted amount of the petty bourgeoisie's maternity allowance and made up the petty bourgeoisie's due salary with an average salary of 8 100 yuan.

Lawyer Huang, a partner of Beijing Anjie Law Firm, praised Xiao Li as a rare brave woman who dared to take up legal weapons to safeguard her legitimate rights and interests and said "no" to unfair and unjust treatment. This battle is hard, but it is also beautiful, but it is by no means the end we can foresee. In the subsequent workplace life, how did Xiao Li coexist peacefully with the relevant functional departments of the company? How to treat the strange eyes cast by colleagues? How to face the possible difficulties? Behind a battle, it seems to be a great victory, but in fact both sides lose.

Xiao D, who was also promoted to mother, met different challenges from Xiao Li in the workplace.

Little d has been in his industry for more than ten years and has been married for more than eight years. After learning that she was pregnant, Xiao D reported the situation to the superior of the unit at the first time and took the initiative to declare that it would not affect her work. "Although I don't want to admit it, the facts have told me countless times that women have the so-called' workplace ceiling'. In order to achieve equal status and success, women often make more efforts and sacrifices than men. For a long time, I only worked hard and never imagined that I would face such difficulties and choices. Until I found out I was pregnant. "

Shortly after the news of Xiao D's pregnancy came out, after a high-level meeting, the superior leader talked to her. A series of "unexpected" work arrangements are followed by job transfer and salary reduction.

"From the basic position to the management position, whether it is' bottom thinking' or' manager logic', I think it is. From the perspective of ordinary employees, marriage and childbearing leave is a right I should enjoy, and there is no need to feel guilty about it. However, once I manage, I can gradually understand that taking a vacation for 3-6 months often involves many things. Who will follow up the original project? Do colleagues need to spend several times more time and energy on ordinary projects to straighten out the links because they take over halfway? Is it necessary for the employer to spend extra money to maintain the existing workload? These are real problems that have to be considered. " Little d can understand, so she chose to accept it.

Asking for leave is seemingly retained, but in fact, it pleases the leader to say goodbye, and then goes home with peace of mind. It took more than ten years of hard work and struggle to finish cutting, but it took only one month.

Referring to why he didn't stand up and defend his rights and interests, Xiao D just said flatly: "I waited for more than eight years to expect this child, and I can't afford it." Besides, my accumulated contacts and experience are enough for me to find a satisfactory job after childbirth. No need. "

For protection, not sanctions.

Recently, "202 1 Workplace Ecological Insight Report of Working Mothers" was released. The survey shows that the proportion of working mothers who suffer unfair treatment during pregnancy is 64.30%, of which the first unfair treatment is "losing promotion opportunities", accounting for 45.86%; "Transferred to unimportant posts" ranked second, accounting for 36.4438+0%. The votes of "salary reduction" and "dismissal in disguise" were 15. 13% and1/0/.58% respectively. 33.57% working mothers returned to the workplace before the end of lactation and have been breastfeeding.

On July 20th, 20021year, the State Council's "the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China's Decision on Optimizing Birth Policy to Promote Long-term Balanced Population Development" was announced, and the central government decided to comply with the expectations of the masses and make a series of decisions on implementing the three-child birth policy and supporting measures.

The policy proposes to abolish social support fees, reduce the cost of maternity and education, improve the maternity leave and maternity insurance system, and protect women's legitimate rights and interests in employment. Lawyer Huang said: "From a professional point of view, whether the relevant supporting measures can be implemented in the form of legal protection determines whether the policy can be implemented."

China Youth: What do you think of the statement that the introduction of the three-child policy will increase women's resistance to returning to the workplace?

Huang: This matter should be treated rationally and objectively.

First of all, we admit that "workplace discrimination" has always existed. A lot of discrimination is not written naked on the surface, but exists silently from the beginning of recruitment. For example, although an enterprise does not explicitly limit the recruitment of only men, it finally rejected female job seekers on the grounds of "insufficient ability", "inappropriate conditions" and "inconsistent with the company's development philosophy". For another example, when interviewing female job seekers, ask some questions with clear "gender orientation", such as "Our company belongs to a startup company and is in the struggle stage. I wonder how you plan to balance the relationship between work and life".

China's laws and policies fully guarantee the promotion of women's equal employment. However, if employers are unilaterally forced to eliminate misconceptions, "protect the legitimate rights and interests of women in employment" and assume social responsibilities, this widespread hidden "discrimination" can't be solved. Therefore, I think the most effective way is to publicize and guide enterprises, encourage them with policies such as taxation, and improve the corresponding security system.

But at the same time, we should not be depressed about it. The introduction of the three-child policy has sent a signal to job seekers and employers: the relevant state administrative departments have clearly realized that this situation needs to be changed, and are sparing no effort to promote the harmonious development of a "fertility-friendly" society, and the relevant supporting policies will be gradually improved and reasonable in the development process.

China Youth: You just mentioned that "advocacy" and "encouragement" may be the most effective ways to eliminate gender discrimination. Can you talk about it?

Huang: Sex discrimination is not produced in a short time, nor is it a personal choice, but a natural choice of market economy.

From the enterprise's point of view, women's commitment to childbirth has indeed caused the shortage of labor and the increase of financial expenditure of employers. For example, if one-third of the employees in an employer are women during pregnancy or maternity leave, the financial expenditure of the company has not decreased, and even additional recruiters are needed to replace it because of the shortage of manpower, but the market competition is fierce and the competitiveness of the unit has declined? The answer is yes. Therefore, unilaterally calling for "protecting women's rights and interests in the workplace" and "eliminating gender discrimination" can't fundamentally solve the problem, but it is easy to push both sides to the opposite side.

In this case, macro-policy control is slightly powerless in the face of natural selection of market economy. To really reverse this situation, I think we need to start from two aspects:

First, strengthen the protection of women's rights and interests. In addition to the introduction of maternity insurance, maternity leave and other related policies, it should also include ways and means to popularize rights protection.

The second is to build a "holiday labor cost sharing mechanism" that balances the rights of all parties. For example, when the proportion of female employees in employers reaches a certain level, the state gives appropriate tax relief and subsidy policies; When the number of pregnant women in a certain unit reaches a certain proportion, special funds are provided for the employer.

Our ultimate goal is to make the protection of women's rights and interests a conscious behavior of enterprises, and to establish and improve a "fertility-friendly" society, rather than imposing sanctions on enterprises.

The most effective way to protect women in the workplace is to provide as fair as possible, giving women an environment where they can freely choose, communicate and negotiate, and have children with peace of mind.

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