Deputy PM Asscher: workplace discrimination against pregnant women unacceptable

Deputy Prime Minister Lodewijk Asscher calls workplace discrimination against pregnant women completely unacceptable, in response to the pregnancy discrimination hotline receiving over 550 complaints in just two weeks.

"Any mention of pregnancy discrimination is of course one too many", Asscher, Minister of Social Affairs and Employment, said to Het Parool on Friday. "Pregnancy must be fun. And therefore mustn't create extra stress for the mother. Especially no stress over losing her job, or that her contract won't be extended or whether she'll be promoted in the future."

"And in job hunting, a big belly can of course never be a reason to reject someone. Good and modern employers do not do that", Asscher said.

He urged women to make use of the action plan against pregnancy discrimination, in which women receive more information about their rights and duties during pregnancy from health service GGD.