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Senate Co-Sponsorship Memoranda
Senate of Pennsylvania
Session of 2023 - 2024
Regular Session
MEMORANDUM
| Posted: | December 7, 2022 11:43 AM |
|---|---|
| From: | Senator Judith L. Schwank and Sen. Christine M. Tartaglione |
| To: | All Senate members |
| Subject: | Maternal Profiling |
| In the near future we will be reintroducing SB577 from the 2021-22 session which is designed to prohibit employers from discriminating based on an applicant’s marital or familial status. Currently, there is no federal protection against discrimination based on family responsibilities or marital status. In Pennsylvania, it is legal for employers to ask job applicants if they are married, have children or planning to have children. More often than not, these questions are directed at women. Studies have shown that mothers are viewed as being less competent at work and less committed to their jobs. Working mothers make up a significant part of the labor force and must be allowed the opportunity to support their families without worrying that their familial or marital status will affect their ability to find or keep a job. By including marital and familial status as protected characteristics under the Pennsylvania Human Relations Act, this legislation carries out the stated public policy of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania: "to foster the employment of all individuals […] and to safeguard their right to obtain and hold employment without such discrimination." I hope that you will join us in supporting this important piece of legislation. Previous co-sponsors were Senators Costa, Hughes, Santarsiero, Kane, Fontana, Brewster, and Collett |
Introduced as SB238