Career News 24/7: The Cynical Girl: Abortion at Work

Thursday, October 13, 2011

The Cynical Girl: Abortion at Work

Posted: 12 Oct 2011 03:45 AM PDT

I travel the country and encourage HR professionals to get political. Nobody knows more about work, money, power or politics than smart HR chicks & dudes.

Several people have reached out to me over the past year and said that they want to talk about abortion at work. Men and women. Really.

The opinions vary. They are pro/against it, they work in liberal/conservative environments, and they can’t talk about this issue because they are hamstrung by company culture/state legislation.

The first time it happened, I was speaking in North Carolina. I asked myself — who the hell wants to talk about abortion at work?

Then I remembered that I have had dozens of tricky conversations at work. One out of three women in America has an abortion and almost *100% of those women have jobs (*okay — that last statistic is made up). Many women come to HR to talk about health care coverage and options if they decide to carry their pregnancy to term. They ask about short-term disability. Some express anxiety. A few fear career displacement and discrimination.

Many men have come into my office to talk about the financial/emotional pressures of having another baby, too.

And listen — some employees will have an abortion and some won’t. It is none of my business. I just work in Human Resources.

I can’t help but think about my grandmother who wanted to be an accountant but got pregnant (& married) at a very young age. When my grandfather left her for a younger woman after 25 years of marriage, she was screwed. She went back to work as a waitress at a soda shop. Not that she would have made a different choice…

…but she always reminded me that I had a choice and the smart money was on college.

Much like sex, I would rather talk about anything else other than your pregnancy and the tough decisions you and your family will have to make. (How’s the weather? Do you like your new car? Where are you going to lunch?) So it was extremely awkward to attend a conference and have a progressive HR woman tell me that reproductive & sexual health are part of her company’s overarching wellness agenda.

Whoa. I am a libertarian when it comes to wellness — and more importantly, my uterus shouldn’t be part of anyone’s agenda. Wellness. Political. Whatever. And maybe I will take those god damn prenatal vitamins and maybe I won’t. It would be great to have a slow-witted baby who didn’t get enough nourishment. Mind your own business, HR Lady.

So if you want to be a good HR professional, it is best to remain neutral on abortion at work. (I know. I know. Like that’s possible.) You can listen to your colleagues. You should treat the men and women of your workforce as decent human beings regardless of whatever choices they make on this subject. And you can craft benefit plans that are fair and focus on preventative care. Don’t view pregnancy and childbirth and an expensive corporate loss. Don’t view contraception — including the traditional pill, Nuva ring, IUD, or the morning after pill — as a moral issue.

I truly encourage you to stay out of the political waters on this one. It is not worth it and it is none of your business.

Seriously.

And FYI — sometimes I miss the days when HR was less strategic and just asked to plan the company picnic.