Mothers unwanted?
As Sibylle Landmann * She was happy to return to the office for the first time three months after the birth of her daughter. On her work as a personnel developer in a Hamburg-based company and on her colleagues. Maybe a bunch of flowers would be on her table? She was prepared for everything, but not on it: "On my PC, a new colleague, who was doing my job sat brashly, I was assigned a completely empty office, I could get furniture out of the warehouse." She has meanwhile organized furniture with the help of the works council. But she does not get back to her previous work, on the contrary: the boss bluntly shows her that he wants to get rid of her. As soon as Sibylle Landmann announced her pregnancy, he offered her a severance pay. "And now I'm kept small, get boring tasks," says the 35-year-old. "Several times a day my boss is suddenly in the door." Every time I start, I feel controlled and intimidated. " She has not given up yet, but her courage is dwindling: "They make me feel that they no longer want me as a mother in this business."
With this feeling Sibylle Landmann is not alone. It is true that employers emphasize at every opportunity how important it is for Germany's future that family and work can be reconciled. But reality looks different. "More and more companies are trying for economic reasons to push pregnant women and mothers with different methods," says Robert Rath of the Berlin State Office for Health and Safety. Actually expectant mothers and women (or men) are parental legally protected against dismissal. If a company wants to get rid of them, they must explicitly apply for this from the responsible workplace safety hearing. And it only authorizes the expulsion if the person concerned is experiencing a "disturbance of company peace". Or she has committed a criminal act, such as a theft. Or make the company completely tight. In Berlin alone, the number of applications rose by 50 percent in four years to almost 400. only half of it was approved. To circumvent protection against dismissal, the companies resort to tricks, says Robert Rath: "As a restaurant allegedly gives up operation and opens in the same place under a new name, but by accident without the pregnant waitresses." Another variant, Rath says: "Allegations are totally exaggerated." To expose such trickery, do government employees? unannounced? Visits on site.
Also in quite a few others The trend can be observed in federal states: in Hesse, between 2000 and 2004, the number of pregnant and raising children who were to be terminated has almost doubled. from 381 to 670. The Thuringian Ministry of Social Affairs is concerned that "companies are increasingly trying to get rid of pregnant women under pretexts"? exactly 236 times in 2004. It is also clear that only the tip of the iceberg appears at the offices. Most women disappear silently. Martina Lanz *, graphic designer at a Frankfurt advertising agency, announced during parental leave that she would like to work 30 hours a week in the future. On it she has a legal claim by law. Because companies with more than 15 employees actually have to grant part-time work at the request of the employee? The agency employs more than 100 people in Frankfurt alone. "But my bosses said immediately: 'Does not look good,'" says Martina Lanz. Part-time work is very difficult with an agency, you also need the employees in the evening. And besides, a major customer order had just broken off. So you have to reduce staff. Martina Lanz is a single parent, the child's father is retraining and can not pay maintenance. She entered into a horse-trading business: 30-hour week until the end of the year, then termination with severance pay. In the meantime, she doubts whether the decision was right: new employees are being sought on the bulletin board, the order situation can not be that bad. "But I had no complaints and then wait half a year for the trial," she says.
The social scientist Christiane Lindecke from the Düsseldorf Economic and Social Research Institute (WSI) concludes from an "enormous number of unreported cases": "Many women get parental leave during their parental leave." Then you would get a compensation offer? and they are gone. Another trend is becoming a trap for mothers: More and more employers are offering women to take longer than the statutory three-year term. Every third company that grants social benefits at all, according to a WSI survey in 2477 companies, now offers this to newly minted parents.What at first sight looks like a family-friendly measure, ends up on the siding for many women. Experience shows that the longer someone is away from the company, the less chance of return, the less the courage to return to daily competition. Much more would be served by working mothers, for example with a company kindergarten? but offers only a vanishing part of the companies.
But why are bosses trying? Ever get rid of pregnant women and mothers? Because they are afraid of the cost? Can not be! Part of the maternity allowance paid six weeks before and eight weeks after birth, the health insurance, in small businesses, the full amount. And the Basel-based business consultancy Prognos AG has found out: The longer a woman stays away, the more expensive it becomes for the company. If it terminates (or is terminated), according to Prognos study, the most expensive thing is to recruit and train a new person costs 9500 euros in the lower income categories, 43.200 euros in the upper income classes.
"Purely economic", Lindecke from the WSI says, "the companies would have to hire more women anyway, they demand less money and stay loyal to the company for longer." But apparently many companies can not change their culture to employees who are only there four days a week or have to go on time. In other words, the companies, not the employees, are inflexible. And so they push mothers out of business even when it gets really expensive. When architect Nadine Marz * told her boss that she was pregnant, she was dismissed two days later. It was followed by a grueling hiccup in court. The boss did not even want to write her a testimony. "Annoyingly too stressful," said the gynecologist Nadine Marz. He feared premature birth and wrote Nadine Marz sick for the rest of the pregnancy. A loss for all sides: expensive for the boss. Preliminary vocational training for the young architect. A real alliance against family.
* The names of those affected have been changed
Tips and addresses
If you're quit while pregnant or at parental leave, is that a shock? but no reason to lose heart. In Germany are far-reaching Maternity protection laws. Do not under any circumstances sign a contract prematurely. Respond with a short letter (registered letter with acknowledgment of receipt): "I reject the denunciation and rely on the Maternity Protection Act. I continue to offer you my workforce." Now the employer is on the train. And you have time to seek advice: from the works council, the company doctor, the women's representative, or the occupational health and safety specialist, which exists in every major company. If you work in a small business, seek help from the union, Pro Familia, or the city's social-psychological counseling center. Any dismissal of a pregnant or mother on parental leave must be approved by the responsible health and safety authority. addresses You will receive it free of charge ChroniquesDuVasteMonde reader service or at www.bmfsfj.de. The Federal Family Ministry also has the brochure "Mutterschutzgesetz" (Tel. 01 80/190 70 50). Useful information and a forum for those affected can be found at www.fast-4ward.de.
