Laws That Support Professional Black Mothers

While Black working mothers often face multiple forms of discrimination in the workplace, there are many laws on the books that are there to provide them with some form of protection.

Professional Black mothers who receive disparate treatment in the workplace for any one of a number of reasons can file lawsuits to vindicate their legal rights.

Here are some of the laws intended to provide support to working black mothers.

FMLA

The Family Medical Leave Act allows working mothers to not only take time off for their own sickness, but also to use their sick leave to care for their children.

Beyond using sick leave, mothers can take unpaid leave to care for their family members if they either have insufficient sick leave or none at all.

They must be allowed to return to their job after that with no change in their benefits.

Title VII of the Civil Rights Act

This part of the Civil Rights Act forbids discrimination on a number of different fronts including racial and gender discrimination.

For women, this act prohibits discrimination against certain protected classes, which protects pregnant women from losing employment.

If these rights are violated, mothers would file a complaint with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission as opposed to filing a suit against the employer in court.

The EEOC will investigate the complaint and may even file suit against the employer in federal court if it finds that the employer has violated the Civil Right Act. Employers cannot retaliate if a complaint has been filed.

The Equal Pay Act

This statute provides protections to women in general and attempts to abolish disparate pay between genders.

This has not always been effective in operation because courts had found that a woman was obligated to sue based on the date where she received her first paycheck.

In 2009, Congress passed the Lily Ledbetter Fair Pay Act, which allows women to sue based on the date of the last paycheck that they received from the company.

Various amendments to the Equal Pay Act have applied the prohibition against discrimination in pay to various levels, including white-collar positions.

This has provided some protection to professional Black mothers, but there is still work to be done.

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If you suspect you are being discriminated against in the workplace, there is no need to hold your silence. The law is on your side.

The FMLA, the Civil Rights Act, and The Equal Pay Act exist to support professional Black mothers. All you have to do is be willing to take action to enforce  your legal rights. 

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