Pregnant women find their work more difficult. Faced with the careless ears of their superiors, they prefer to stop prematurely.
In the absence of being able to adapt their working conditions, pregnant women go on sick leave. A majority deplore the lack of flexibility of companies; a phenomenon confirmed by the report of the National Agency for the Adaptation of Working Conditions (Anact).
Seized by the Ministry of Labor, after the miscarriages of two supermarket employees, the Agency delivers a critical assessment of French companies. She strongly recommends that they improve their skills, in order to better reconcile gestation and professional life.
Ask for help
It must be said that the situation leaves much to be desired in terms of the protection of pregnant women. Successive interviews with employees, managers and occupational physicians show this clearly. First, women and personnel managers are not familiar with the rights open to pregnancy.
For example, a pregnant woman has the right to request a visit from occupational medicine. A useful request, since the health professional makes recommendations for fitting out the workstation. But these consultations often come too late, in the eyes of the latter. They therefore do not have the possibility of making these adaptations.
For women, the situation is less complex. They admit having difficulty reconciling their condition with their professional life. And they don’t feel helped. Among the employees interviewed by Anact, the majority believe that prolonged standing, carrying loads or even going to the store are more painful than normal. But they must ask for help before it is offered to them.
Profound changes
By default, sick leave is therefore requested. In the vast majority of cases, it is not because of a pathology, but because of the arduous nature of the work. In the end, only 10% of pregnant women exercise their profession until the official date of maternity leave.
This choice of premature termination is undoubtedly justified. The body undergoes profound changes during pregnancy and certain tasks can then become more painful, even dangerous.
The situation of the two cashiers at the origin of this report shows it clearly: pregnant, they did not benefit from any workstation adjustment. They therefore continued to carry heavy loads. Until the miscarriage.
Change culture
This kind of case is all the more intolerable as measures already exist, with the aim of limiting the risks for pregnant women. Guides are made available to managers and employees, for example. Anact therefore pleads in favor of a move towards stricter measures.
Among the proposed adaptations is the removal of tasks, time regulation or even working in pairs. But to achieve this, companies will have to improve their skills, especially on the integration of men and what to do in the event of an alert – such as nausea or discomfort.
This would make it possible to stop considering pregnancy as an anomaly in the course of labor. Health professionals, for their part, must better identify the risks associated with pregnancy and promote good practices.
.
