Andrew Schulz's Flagrant with Akaash Singh
Andrew Schulz's Flagrant with Akaash Singh
"The point is essentially that maternity leave in a lot of ways hurts women. I have a friend of mine. She's in HR. Hired this woman, got pregnant, had to keep paying her as she left, had to hire someone else. She's going in that hiring process going, if I hire another girl, this exact same thing could happen. I'm gonna hire the dude." — Unidentified Male Speaker 2
"If I was an owner of a WNBA team and I was like, hold up. One of these girls here, pregnant. I mean, that's why I'm saying that. Right? Like, of course, but now the fact that you could do it within vitro or whatever like that, they could get pregnant. I just, I am, it's, why does it seem odd?" — Unidentified Male Speaker 1
"The point is, if you are making a hiring decision as a boss, right, take ethics out of it. You're just looking at me being productive and how much money this is going to cost me as a business. If I hire a woman and I know at some point, she's going to get pregnant. I hire a woman who just got married, wring on her finger, fresh. And I had, you know, she's going to take me turn to leave. So I'm going to lose all her production. I still got to pay her. Then I got to find hire and retrain and pay a new person to fill that position." — Unidentified Male Speaker 2
The discussion centers on the WNBA's recent collective bargaining agreement, which includes provisions for paid maternity leave. Initially, the speakers express surprise and question the rationale behind employers being responsible for covering an employee's leave for childbirth, framing it as a personal choice rather than an injury. However, the conversation evolves to consider the broader societal and economic implications.
A significant portion of the dialogue focuses on the perspective of employers. Concerns are raised about the potential negative impact of mandatory paid leave on hiring decisions, particularly when comparing female and male applicants. Speakers articulate a business-centric viewpoint, suggesting that an employer might favor a male candidate if they do not require extended paid leave, thereby potentially disadvantaging women in the job market. This perspective highlights a tension between policies intended to support women and the practical realities of business operations.
The conversation also touches upon the WNBA's business model and its perceived financial viability, with one speaker suggesting that WNBA team owners may not be operating purely as profit-driven businesses. The potential for maternity leave policies to unintentionally harm women's career progression is a recurring theme, with anecdotal examples shared about situations where such policies led to hiring biases against women.