As more women join the armed forces, more service members are becoming pregnant.
With 200,000 women in active-duty service, pregnancy and family leave are of increasing importance for both the military and civilian workplaces that employ servicemembers.
The good news for women in the military and their families is that, in many instances, they have better protections than women who are not in the military.
Here's a look at five things you need to know about being pregnant in the military.1. Married pregnant active-duty servicemembers can get more maternity leave than civilians.
Defense Department policy is that active-duty military members get up to to six weeks of maternity leave above and beyond any personal leave they may take.
Women serving in the Navy and the Marines get triple that leave--up to 18 weeks!
This is six more weeks more than women covered by the Family Medical Leave Act. (The FMLA applies to employers with 50 or more employees and provides for up to 12 weeks of unpaid leave.)
2. Married servicemen with a newborn receive up to 10 days of leave.
Under the 2009 Defense Authorization Act new fathers get up to 10 days of non-chargeable leave. The benefit is reserved for married servicemen and must be taken within 60 days of the birth of a child.
3. The Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act ("USERRA") can extend FMLA benefits.
One of the primary purposes of USERRA is to make sure that members of the military are not disadvantaged when they return to civilian careers. For instance, a pregnant member of the military returning from service will have the same FMLA rights as if she had never left employment.
For instance, let's suppose a woman worked for a company for a year before deployment. Before she left, she was entitled to FMLA leave. She is on active duty for two years. While on duty, but before discharge, she becomes pregnant. As the employer is required to do under USERRA, it allows her to return to the same position she had before deployment. She gives birth one month after returning to the company.
If she had not been in the military, but had taken leave for another reason, she would not be entitled to leave. To be entitled for FMLA leave, the employee has to have been with the company for a year and have worked 1250 hours in the last year. But because she is coming back from leave, USERRA essentially stopped the clock as if she had never left.
Though not specifically pregnancy-related, USERRA offers pregnant service members and, indeed members with any caregiving responsibilities, added protection in this way. Many federal anti-discrimination laws only apply to employers with 15 or more employees. In contrast, USERRA applies to all employees. Also, unlike the short time periods in which an employee must bring a federal anti-discrimination action, USERRA has no time limit.
This could work this way. A service member, now with a young child, returns from active duty and takes the same job she had before deployment. The employer has 14 employees. Before deployment (and having children), she was up for a senior management position. One becomes available, and she is doing very well in her job, but the company president promotes a less-qualified male. She later learns that the president in an email said, "It's not a smart move to put some with a bunch of rugrats and military obligations in a leadership position."
Such a statement is illegal sex-based stereotyping under federal anti-discrimination law Title VII of the Civil Rights Act. But because this employer has only 14 employees, that law does not apply. (In some states, this veteran may have rights under state ant-discrimination law. Sadly, many states lack such laws.)
Fortunately, this employee still has protection. USERRA, because it covers any size business, still applies. And here her boss is also making a decision based on her military status. Now she has a potential claim, and therefore leverage, against her employer to either get that promotion or negotiate a severance so that she can get a better job.
4. Family members of servicemembers get additional protection under the FMLA.
A spouse, son, daughter or parents of someone on active duty or in the reserves are entitled of up to 12 weeks of leave when a member is deployed to a foreign country. The leave can be used for, among other purposes, arranging alternative childcare. The same family members get up to 26 weeks of leave to care for a servicemember who has been injured in the line of duty.5. Still, the military has a long way to go.While women in the military enjoy certain benefits related to pregnancy, these same women also face significant challenges.
The first of which is that they may not have wanted to become pregnant in the first place. A 2013 study indicated that unplanned pregnancies occur at a higher rate among women in the Armed Services.
Second, some women report hostile attitudes by commanders when they become pregnant.
Third, many women who are happy with life in the military choose discharge rather than face the difficulties associated with raising a child while on active duty.
Women in the military who start families face several barriers, yet enjoy many benefits and protection, both in the military and when they return to civilian life. As more women enlist, the military will hopefully continue to adapt.
Tom Spiggle is author of "You're Pregnant? You're Fired: Protecting Mothers, Fathers, and Other Caregivers in the Workplace," now available on Amazon. He is founder of the Spiggle Law Firm based in Arlington, Va., where he focuses on workplace law specializing in helping clients facing discrimination due to pregnancy or other family-care issues, such as caring for a sick child or elderly parent. To learn more, visit: www.yourepregnantyourefired.com.