Legislation and rights for pregnant workers

Legislation and rights related to pregnant workers vary significantly across different countries. However, a critical issue is that, despite having appropriate legislation, many countries fail to enforce these laws effectively.

In the floriculture industry, where the majority of workers are young women, we can observe working conditions that are representative of the challenges faced by many women worldwide.

Roses demand good growing conditions: sufficient light for at least 10 hours per day, temperatures between 10-25 degrees Celsius, plenty of water, land, – and an abundance of manual labor. ^{© B.E. Moen}

The floriculture industry is characterized by short-term contracts, sometimes as brief as one day. This often leads to an informal employer-worker relationship, making it difficult to effectively uphold workers’ rights. Many seasonal and casual workers worry about becoming pregnant, sick, or injured, as this could result in job loss.

The majority of workers in the flower farms are young women. ^{© B.E. Moen}

Potentially hazardous activities in the floriculture industry include handling and spraying pesticides and other chemicals. The health effects of pesticide exposure can differ significantly between women and men. Women, on average, have lower body weight but a higher proportion of body fat than men, leading to greater accumulation of fat-soluble chemicals in their fat tissue. Significant accumulation of fat-soluble pesticides has been observed in women’s breast tissue and can be passed on to nursing infants. Additionally, the hormonal effects of certain pesticides may impact women and men differently, potentially harming developing fetuses.

Workers might not follow safety instructions due to insufficient information about health risks and necessary precautions. While sprayers might wear personal protective equipment (PPE), including masks and protective clothing during spraying, other workers in the greenhouse typically do not use PPE. Additionally, there are few or no measures to control which pesticides are imported for use in flower farms

Sprayers wearing personal protective equipment during spraying. ^{© B.E. Moen}

Ethiopian legislation mandates that a pregnant woman be transferred to a safer job if her current one is deemed hazardous by a medical doctor. Despite this, health problems caused by chemicals are reported among workers in floriculture farms or their healthcare centers, including respiratory symptoms, unconsciousness, miscarriages, and adverse birth outcomes. Workers also suffer health problems from long hours of standing in greenhouses.

A survey in the Ethiopian floral industry revealed that over 80% of participants felt that flower farms do not provide necessary support for pregnant mothers, such as free medical care, salary advances for maternity-related costs, and assigning less hazardous tasks.

Ethiopian legislation also grants women the right to maternity leave with full pay: 30 days before the expected birth date and 60 days after. However, a survey indicated that most female workers in the Ethiopian flower industry do not have access to maternity leave.

These challenging work conditions for (pregnant) women are not unique to the Ethiopian floriculture industry but are prevalent in several countries worldwide. In Ecuador, some flower farms do not hire pregnant women. In Colombia, flower farms often fail to comply with minimum labor rights, including unfair dismissal, non-payment of salaries, non-compliance with pesticide handling precautions, high workloads, illegal sanctions, mistreatment of pregnant workers, and lack of pension and provident funds. Similar issues, including poor health and safety conditions and lack of support for pregnant women, have been reported in the Kenyan floriculture industry. The lack of adequate maternity leave creates anxiety about securing income, leading some pregnant workers to hide their pregnancies or consider abortion.