what laws are there...

that protect pregnant women while employed by a company with less than 15 employees??

i was looking up some discrimination/employment practice laws today and found that most of those laws only pertain to businesses with more than 15 employees. so what if you work, like i do, for some assholes who only have 10 employees--total?? that's including the two of them (president & owner). i am really disheartened by the treatment i've received while working for these pricks. since i started it seems they have found reasons why they don't "like me" and have tried their best to disrupt my fiance and i's lives. (he works here also, he's the foreman. i work in the office.)

lately they've done some things of a legally questionable nature. for instance, on monday when we came into work they sat my fiance and i BOTH down and told MY FIANCE (not me) that i was going to be put on part-time starting at the beginning of september. now i'm 32 weeks pregnant and they have given me less than a week to supplement my income and/or to make changes in my life to accomodate my loss of income. seems wrong to me.

then yesterday i asked the owner what sort of days/hours i should expect to work next week (since it'd be september 1st on monday) and he looked at me like i was stupid and said that if i "wanted to" i could "start working those hours" next week.   *scratches head* ummm, you told me just yesterday i'd be working those hours? kaaay. so i explained just that to him and he went onto explain that my hours wouldn't change until the end of september, that i'd be working 8 hours a day until i "left to have my baby." her EDD is october 19th.   so i'm still confused.

while i had this conversation with the owner, his wife (the president of the company) got really agitated, burst into the conversation, verbally harrassed/attacked me and said a bunch of things about my employmen there. i imagine she was completely displeased because he, the owner, had gone and changed what he'd said to me the previous day. this is nothing new. he does this all the time. i've been treated really poorly by her ever since. she's rude, short and always suspicious of things. i don't know why. i've done everything in my position as she taught me to. but this "company" operates like no other i've ever seen. they are completely arbitrary in their implementation of rules & policies. they change their minds on a whim and expect everyone to know what they expect. it's a very stressful job in that sense.

so again, what kind of laws protect pregnant women working for companies this small? i've since heard that they spoke to the other operator here about my employment. i know that's a huge no-no. you are not to discuss the employment of any employee with anyone besides that employee without expressed permission. so them telling my fiance i was going to part-time was a huge mistake. so was discussing my employment with this operator that has nothing to do with the office/management.

i'm lost.

its 15 employees within a certain radius., is it only a small company? no sister companies?

Quoting amber603 [GIG]:“ that protect pregnant women while employed by a company with less than 15 employees?? i was looking ... [snip!] ... mistake. so was discussing my employment with this operator that has nothing to do with the office/management. i'm lost.”

I was in business mngmnt for over 10 years so Ill offer what advice I have: though it might not be helpfull.
1. The concern I have is over them having you go part time. Part timers have 0 benefits as well as entitlements. As a part timer you can be let go for ANY reason and they really dont even have to render one. So I am actually more concerned for your job. It appears to me that they are trying to force you out. ( which if they do at a full time basis you would have a better opportunity to get unemployment.) 2. They dont hae to hold your job for you while on maternity leave ( even if only 6 weeks) if they dont have enough employees to qualify for the fmla act. ( but are you counting EVERYONE on the payroll? alot of times those crooked guys will put their wives, daughters, parents on the payroll for tax benefits.., so do some research.)3. The problem with them discussing your employment with other employees is wrong- but proving it is a hard case. It turns into he/she said, and all becomes hearsay unless you witnessed it. ( frustrating.., I know) so heres my advice to you: beg your doctor to write a dr. note claiming heavy restrictions based on your pregnancy .., sooo many restrictions that you can not work. Then file for short term disability from the state. IF they fire you while your on leave ( the leave you self created!) then get unemployment while you look for a new job. ( I dont think your job is secure with what they are doing.)

Quoting j0cElYn:“ I was in business mngmnt for over 10 years so Ill offer what advice I have: though it might not be ... [snip!] ... self created!) then get unemployment while you look for a new job. ( I dont think your job is secure with what they are doing.)”

yeah. i agree. it isn't secure, it isn't secure one bit. and yes, they ARE trying to force me out. my fiance and i have known that a long time. the feign compassion and generousity but really, they ARE crooked, selfish and out for themselves.

i agree as well with the hearsay aspect of this quandary. everyday it's something new. they've spoken to someone else, they've changed their minds on this, they've decided against or for that. it's insane! i literally just had a conversation with the owner (about 10 minutes ago) about what we've been discussing the past few days. he came up and asked me when i've been "starting my time" here at work. i looked at HIM like he was stupid and said, "ummm, when i get in every morning. what else would you expect me to be putting down?" and he said, "oh nooooo...that's not good."    oh my God, what now? so he starts explaining that when they hired me they hired me knowing that i was not able to drive (oversome things from my past)and that because i was justin's fiance, they did what they could "to help me out." *shakes head* no no no, when i was hired i was techinically hired to learn the president's position (his wife's). since i started i have not ONCE looked over a print, gone over a bid or been advised/educated on any of her practices. like i said, once he realized he didn't like me (and she didn't like me either) they started to change their minds. the owner's wife comes across as very naive, impressionable and pussy-footed. she does WHATEVER he tells her to, WHEN he tells her to do it. no questions asked, she jumps when he tells her to. but i've witnessed/seen recently her sheep's clothing revealing her true colors/skin (so-to-speak). she's not as gullible or "woe is me, i'm JUST a girl" as she comes across. she's the heavy fist behind a lot of the goings-on here.

i don't know, i just don't. i know that there would be an awful lot to prove. it's their word against mine and my fiance. if the other men they've spoken to, inappropriately about my employment, were willing to step forward and offer a statement of some kind--there might be a chance for me to expose them. but i don't know. after discussing things with the old man today (the owner), he was being very cordial and agreeable. i explained my side of things and expressed my appreciation for the things they have done for me but i am not one to be intimidated or pushed around. i just am not made of that kind of stuff. i was raised to be independent, to look out for myself and to be strong. i don't back down unless i should, you know? and these people have been constantly pushing me. i know they want me to quit. i know they do. what's funny is they keep telling me, lately especially, that when i was hired this "position" was never meant to be full-time. they tell me that i only was working 40 hours a week because my fiance does. *shakes head vehemently* NO! that wasn't the case at all or i'd have never come here. i would have found OTHER employment because there's no way i could have survived on part-time work, car or no car.

i'm really bothered by all of this and feel like they're trying to bamboozle me. the president (his wife) is not as stupid or naive as she'd like to come across. she is not going to endanger her business or her income. i think she's very well aware of what SHE'S doing but her husband keeps opening his mouth and inserting his foot. he's old (he's 74) and she's about twenty years younger than that. so she's got the upper hand in their marriage and in this company. she knows what she can and can't do. her and her lawyer are not estranged, i'll say that much.

the old man said he's "re-think" some things in order to "help me out." i explained that i was always planning on working as long as i could. no one bothered to ask me or tell me otherwise. all of a sudden they feel the need to makes all of these changes. it's ridiculous. i realize the weather has been horrible this year. it's affectedmany, many fields of work and their companies drastically. they want to "cut costs" per their accountants advice and i get that. i see where they are coming from. but it is wrong how they've treated me and how they've mistreated the other men that work here. i'm one of only two females that work here, me and his wife. i'm the only one who's ever been pregnant here. neither his wife nor himself have ever had children. he actually told my fiance that six weeks off after delivering a child was too much, too long an amount of time off.  

Quoting j0cElYn:“ its 15 employees within a certain radius., is it only a small company? no sister companies?”

no, there are no sister companies. this is it.

They are trying to get you to quit. It would probably be in your best interest after bb to do so. ( I dont think youll get hired at 32 weeks anywhere else because of the health liabilities.) They will keep harrassing you, and or are secretly documenting EVERYTHING they can to blindside you with it and terminate you for justifiable cause. ( hence the convo. this morning about time cards- he cant fire you for anything not previously discussed., unless it were sexual harrassment or something for immediate termination.) maybe just tell him that you can not come back before 6 weeks ( if hes smart he would know that 0 doctors will clear you before then and if you were to get injured because you were back to soon- he would be responsible.) but that you will be seeking other employment. ( maybe just to get some peace between now and then.)

Quoting j0cElYn:“ They are trying to get you to quit. It would probably be in your best interest after bb to do so. ( I ... [snip!] ... he would be responsible.) but that you will be seeking other employment. ( maybe just to get some peace between now and then.)”

oh yeah. there is no job here for me once i go on maternity leave. the old man said himself that they are looking to hire an estimator to help his wife out. she does the bidding/estimating and all the "bookkeeping." what's funny is that i was supposed to be coming to work here (it was all discussed by the old man, his wife, my fiance & i before i left my old employer) to learn the bitch's job. i was supposed to be learning all about what she does so that it would alleviate her stress. but i was never taught a thing. i was never shown ANYTHING! it's frustrating but i realized a long time ago that this company is not one i'd care to spend my life working for. they are really devious, deceitful people.

it's all good. he mentioned something about hiring an "old, elderly woman perhaps" to take over my job once i'm gone on maternity leave. he keeps saying it was never meant to be a full-time position, but that's fucking crap and i'm sick of them thinking that i buy it. there's a bunch more to the story, but as far as my involvement in this company...that about covers it. they see me as a threat to them. my fiance is the foreman, as i said earlier, and he's fucking awesome at what he does. he's carried this company for about two years by himself because they couldn't get decent help here. they have a reputation in this city within the field and it's not a good one. people know how they are and those that don't that hear about them before coming here decide not to waste their time. so they could never get anyone worth a shit to help my fiance out. he did it all, by himself. he's an excellent operator and can run every piece of equipment they have and always managed to get the jobs done they wanted WHEN THEY WANTED. they asked ridiculous, unreal things of him and he came through for them. so they owe him a lot. without him, this company would have fallen, and fallen fast, long ago. but he stuck it out with them.

when i came to work here however, justin (my fiance) started seeing them truly for what they are. they brought him into a "discussion" about me (the first time they did this) and the old man went OFF on me. he blamed me for the "dissention" he felt had taken over his company.   ?: kay. don't think so. he based this off of the mens' dislike/disdain for him. they attitudes became MY FAULT. their work performance--MY FAULT. it was unreal and completely out of line how they did all of that. the old man kept saying "justin, we never had these kind of problems before...did we?" and justin was just dumbfounded. he knew he couldn't risk losing his job, we had just found out we were having a baby for God's sake!! so he mumbled no and i was just devastated. not by justin's actions, he was stuck in a corner. but by how horribly wrong the whole thing was.

so they're nasty, crooked people.