China Prosecutes 16 Companies for Illegal Pregnancy Tests for Female Job Seekers
Jul 18, 2024
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Prosecutors in Nantong, Jiangsu Province, China, have indicted 16 companies on charges of requiring female applicants to take a pregnancy test before hiring, according to China's state-run media, the Prosecution Daily and China Network.
Prosecutors earlier launched an investigation after receiving a report earlier this year.
According to the survey, two hospitals and one health examination center conducted 168 pregnancy tests on job seekers on behalf of 16 companies.
The hospital claimed that it did not give written notice to female job seekers that it would conduct a pregnancy test, and instead gave ambiguous oral instructions.
However, the prosecution pointed out that according to the company's recruitment and employee insurance records, all women who applied for the job were tested for pregnancy, and that one woman who was found to be pregnant was not hired.
However, the woman was eventually hired along with compensation after the company's illegal activities were caught.
Prosecutors did not say whether they fined the companies caught this time, but if companies fail to correct illegal pregnancy tests, they could be fined up to 50,000 yuan (about 9.5 million won) for gender discrimination, the media reported.
Local media pointed out that while companies are legally prohibited from performing pregnancy tests as part of pre-employment health checkups, many employers are conducting pre-employment pregnancy tests because they are concerned about the cost of childbirth benefits.
bellho@sportschosun.com
