导读:已婚已育的女性原本很受用人单位欢迎,如今国家放开二胎的政策,她们在面试时又多了一个新的难题:打算生二孩吗?
Gender discrimination against women has deepened after China changed its policy to allow women to have a second child. Experts are calling for practical laws to protect women’s rights in workplaces.
自从中国改变政策允许二胎之后,针对妇女的性别歧视越来越严重。专家呼吁制定切实可行的法律来保护女性在工作上的权益。
"During my job interviews, all of the companies asked if I am planning to have a second child," 34-year-old Xiao Mu, who currently works for a media company in Shanghai, told the Global Times on Wednesday.
34岁的小穆(音),目前就职于上海的一家传媒公司,本周三她告诉环球时报说:“在我的工作面试中,所有的公司都问我是否打算生第二个孩子。”
Many companies blatantly told her that they prefer women with two children rather than unmarried women. "We simply cannot afford two maternity leaves," Xiao Mu was told by one of the companies.
许多公司对她坦言,他们更倾向于那些有两个孩子的女性而非未婚女性。其中一家公司告诉小穆,“我们只是没法提供两次产假。”
In the last two years, some Chinese companies have also required female job applicants to put information about their family members on their applications, Qian Yue, an experienced human resource manager, was quoted as saying by The Legal Daily on Saturday.
周六,法制日报引用了一位叫做钱月(音)的资深HR经理的陈述:在过去的两年中,部分中国企业同时要求女性求职者将她们的家庭成员信息写进申请。
"If a female applicant already has two children, then she is safe, because it is very likely she won’t have any more children," said Qian.
钱说,“如果一位女性求职者已经有两个孩子,那么她相对来说比较容易被录取,因为她可能不会再生小孩了。”
Qian said that HR managers are very cautious because they will be blamed if a female employee gets pregnant right after her probation period or asks for maternity leave shortly after she is employed.
钱说,HR经理们是非常谨慎的,如果一位女性员工试用期之后立即怀孕,或者被录取之后不久就要求休产假,他们将受到责备。
Maternity blues
产后抑郁
A survey of 128,576 people published on March 6 by zhaopin.com, one of the biggest job recruitment sites in China, found that over 80 percent of the female respondents believe gender discrimination still exists in recruitment, China News Service reported. many women are complaining that under the second-child policy, gender discrimination deepens in workplaces.
据中新社报道,3月6日,中国最大的求职招聘网站之一的智联招聘,在网上发起公开调查,128,576名求职者参与其中。调查显示,超过80%的女性调查对象认为,性别歧视在招聘中仍然存在。许多女性抱怨说,在二胎政策下,工作中的性别歧视变得更加严重。
The second-child policy has created some new problems, including employment discrimination against women, Fu Ying, a spokesperson for the fifth session of the 12th National People’s Congress, said at a press conference on March 4.
第十二届全国人民代表大会第五次会议的发言人傅莹在3月4日的新闻发布会上说,二孩政策产生了一些新的问题,包括对妇女的就业歧视。
Fu said that "relevant policies and services need to be upgraded, for example, the providing of adequate maternity checkups and childcare."
傅莹说,“相关的政策和服务需要得到提升,比如充足的产检和育儿服务的提供。”
Wang Pei’an, deputy head of the National Health and Family Planning Commission, said at a national academic conference on social security in Beijing on Saturday that China is considering new pro-natal incentives to make it easier for women to work and raise young children.
国家卫生和计划生育委员会副主任王培安本周六在北京举行的全国社会保障学术会议上说,国家正在考虑新的产前奖励制度来让女性更轻松地工作以及养育年幼的孩子。
The incentives may include the establishment of nurseries at workplaces, extension of maternity leave and spousal paternity leave and higher financial subsidies, reported news portal caixin.com.
据财新网报道,激励政策可能包括在工作场所建立婴儿室,延长女性和其配偶的产假,以及更高的财政补贴。
However, giving more incentives can also enhance the already existing prejudice against female employees, Peng Xizhe, dean of the School of Social Development and Public Policy at Shanghai’s Fudan University, told the Global Times.
上海复旦大学社会发展与公共政策学院院长彭希哲告诉环球时报,然而给予更多的激励政策同样可能增加对现有的女性员工的偏见。
"I went back to work only one month after I gave birth to my first child although the maternity leave on the contract is five months, because I am afraid someone may take over my place during my absence," a department manager from an advertisement company surnamed Yuan told the Global Times, adding that simply prolonging maternity leave will not solve the problem.
某广告公司一位姓袁的部门经理告诉环球时报,仅仅延长产假并不能解决问题:“虽然合同上的产假是5个月,但我生完孩子一个月就回去上班了,因为我担心我不在的期间别人会接替我的位置。”
Employers say hiring female employees can be prohibitively costly.
雇主们说雇佣女性员工成本太高。
Yang Wanghai, owner of a start-up company, told The Legal Daily that it will take a woman five years if she wants to have two children (which includes the time of pregnancy, nursing and taking care of infants,) and a woman cannot fully devote herself to work during the five years, even though the company has to pay her full salary.
一位叫做杨望海(音)的新成立公司的老板告诉法制日报,如果一个女人要生两个孩子,她将在五年内(其中包括怀孕,哺乳以及照顾小孩)不能全心投入工作,然而公司必须支付她全额薪水。
This is disastrous for a start-up, said Yang. Having to pay a maternity subsidy for a woman and find someone to cover her during her absence is just "too much for a company which faces life-and-death struggles everyday," said Yang.
杨说,这对于一个新成立的公司来说相当糟糕,必须为女职工付生育保险,并需要在她休产假的时候找到顶替她的人,对于一家每天都要面临生死存亡的公司来说,这有些过分了。
No company dares to fire female employees because the law forbids it, said Qian, adding that they can just hire male applicants and transfer the pregnant employee to positions with tougher conditions, forcing them to resign.
钱表示,由于法律的禁止,没有公司敢解雇孕期的女员工,但是他们可以雇佣男性职员并将怀孕女职员调到艰苦的岗位,来迫使她们辞职。
Faced with this dilemma, Li Xixia, scholar from the Institute of Law of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, told the Global Times that the government can pay back the employer’s loss caused by female employees’ maternity leave by financial support or tax reduction, which may help to relieve gender discrimination in the workplace.
中国社会科学院法学研究所研究员李希夏告诉环球时报,面对这种困境,政府可以通过财政支持或减税来补偿雇主由于员工休产假所造成的损失,有助缓解职场性别歧视。
Moreover, experts also said that gender diversity actually benefits a company over the long run.
此外,专家还表示,其实从长远来看,性别的差异是可以使公司受益的。
Hays, a recruiting company, said during a press release on March 7 that workplace diversity has many potential benefits for organizations. From a talent management perspective, working in more diverse teams can broaden employees’ experience, facilitate innovation and develop a culture that is based on merit, said Hays.
一家正在招聘的叫做海斯的公司,在3月7日的新闻中表示,工作场合的性别差异对于一个组织来说有许多潜在的好处。在一个多元化的团队工作,有助于员工拓展经验,促进创新以及建立基于价值的企业文化。
"Employers also need to recognize the benefits of a gender diverse workforce, including a stronger talent pipeline, higher productivity and ultimately a more successful business. Clearly, addressing gender equality needs to be more than just a box-ticking exercise," said Christine Wright, managing director of Hays in Asia.
海斯亚太区总裁 Christine Wright说,“雇主们还需要意识到工作场所性别多元化的好处,包括更好的人才管理,更高的生产力,最终变为更成功的企业。显然,解决性别平等问题没有那么简单,需要更多的努力。”