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Comment by wincy | Hacker News Reader

Well right now my wife (who is a stay at home mom) is seven months pregnant and I’m looking for a job. If this was mandated at any of the companies I was applying to I’d be guaranteed to not get hired. I don’t want 12 weeks, and it’s not like this baby is a surprise.

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In case you don’t know, it’s illegal for them to ask and you have no duty to disclose it. You don’t even need to tell them you are married.

During training I underwent at Bigcorp about how to run an interview, this was one of the things we were explicitly told not to ask about in any way shape or form.

We were located in one of the best school districts in the area - we could mention that fact, but we could not ask if they had kids or were planning to have kids or expected kids. Nothing about kids.

Other than perhaps through social media (one more reason to consider "going dark" while job hunting, I suppose), how would any potential employer know your wife was expecting?

>If this was mandated at any of the companies I was applying to I’d be guaranteed to not get hired.

Why would you disclose your wife's pregnancy?

==I’d be guaranteed to not get hired.==

Flat out false. My wife got a new job while 7 months pregnant. When she had the baby, she took 8 weeks off, I start my 4 week paternity leave soon and everyone is happy.

I had a coworker do that and it worked out great. I always avoid talking about my kid other then to acknowledge I have kids.

It is really a stratified world in that regard and I am lucky. My employer (large, non-US based tech company) not only offers paternity leave, but actively encourages it's use.

Sadly, even a lot of workplaces that "offer" this type of benefit have a culture where it hurts your career to use it. Meanwhile, the rest of the developed world gets along just fine with universal leave.

You should publicly name both of your employers as that is rare and noteworthy.

Same happened at the first company I worked full time at... Woman came in for her interview, 7 months pregnant, and was hired. She was a great hire for the company, and stayed about as long as I did (6 or 7 years)... We definitely would have been worse off if we were short-sighted enough to not hire her just because of that.

All potential employers have illegal hiring practices?

At my current job ( in Germany where parental leave is mandated ) i had collagues write there parental leave application (you have to apply, but your employer is not allowed to deny it) on their first day. They where open about it in the interview and most fathers take 2 months off.

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