Linda Willing, a retired career fire officer with more than 20 years in the emergency services, is a member of the FireRescue1 and Fire Chief Editorial Advisory Board. Read more of Linda’s insight and analysis into fire service leadership issues and challenges here.
Two stories about pregnant firefighters have been in the news lately. In one, a firefighter is working on the line into her last month of pregnancy, because her department says it is barred by contract from offering her an alternate duty assignment. In another, it was reported that a woman who chose to continue working well into her pregnancy said she had experienced discrimination because of this fact.
According to the Tampa Bay Times, the firefighter who insisted on continuing to work her regular shifts while pregnant did so only after repeatedly being refused an alternate non-hazardous duty assignment. The other woman also asked for such an assignment but was told it was contractually impossible to accommodate her.
Pregnancy should not require a choice between career and safety
Most people agree it is not a good idea to fight fires, respond on hazardous materials calls, or be exposed to infectious diseases while pregnant. There are risks to both the woman and the baby she is carrying.
While most women are aware of these risks, many who are still physically capable of performing the required tasks of the job while pregnant will choose to do so. Why?
In the cases above, both women wanted to be reassigned to a non-hazardous duty position. This is the desire of most pregnant firefighters. Yet, it did not happen in either case, and the women continued to work as operational firefighters.
Fire departments are not legally required to provide alternate duty assignments for pregnancy under federal law. However, if they provide such assignments for other off-duty injuries or conditions, they must do so equally for pregnancy. This is the basis of the 1978 Pregnancy Discrimination Act (PDA) which states that pregnancy must be treated the same as other off-duty conditions related to someone’s ability to work.
In 1987, this law was clarified in the U.S. Supreme Court, which stated the intention of the PDA was that pregnancy must be treated “at least as well” as other off-duty conditions affecting work. It could legally be treated better. Therefore, if a fire department wanted to have a policy of providing alternate duty assignments for pregnancy, it was not obligated to do so for other conditions.
Fire departments are not properly planning for pregnant firefighters
At this point, you’d think that all fire departments would have started planning for the inevitable pregnancies among their female employees, and devise systems that provide meaningful, alternate work assignments. Many departments did just that and have seen good results with managing pregnancies among their members.
Many, but not all.
Some departments flatly refuse to offer any alternate assignments at all. Some offer alternate duty, but under very unattractive terms, such as terrible schedules, cuts in pay, work that might either be irrelevant, or, in some cases, hazardous in its own right.
When faced with the choice between a terrible job or no job at all, or continuing to work as a firefighter into pregnancy for full pay and benefits, some women choose the latter. For some, it is not really a choice but a necessity, since women work for the same reasons men do: to support their families, pay their rent, have access to medical care and use their knowledge and skills in a meaningful way. They don’t usually have the luxury of taking off six months to a year with no pay or benefits.
Women are legally able to work in any job while they are pregnant, as long as they are fully capable of performing that job, even if that job might pose risks to their unborn babies. This conclusion is the result of a U.S. Supreme Court case in 1991 which stated, “Decisions about the welfare of future children must be left to the parents who conceive, bear, support and raise them, rather than the employers who hire those parents.”
What can be done to accommodate pregnant firefighters?
Fire departments need to take a proactive approach to the fact that most women will get pregnant at some point in their lives. Therefore, every fire department that includes women will be dealing with this issue. Such an approach would include:
- Education for all department members about risks of hazardous exposure to reproductive health of both men and women
- A clear policy that provides for meaningful, non-hazardous alternate duty assignments that can run for the duration of a pregnancy
- A culture that is inclusive, free of harassment and open to working with individuals to meet their needs
When employees are valued in this way, they will give back tenfold. Pregnancy is just one condition that might require accommodation during a firefighter’s career. However, it is one that is a near certainty when women are part of the workforce and also one that has been clearly addressed by employment law. There is really no excuse for a fire department refusing to deal with it.
