Pregnant? - Contract Suspended!!!

From mypaper and Asia One.


MediaCorp drops pregnant Zoe Tay

MediaCorp has suspended the contract of Caldecott Hill Queen Zoe Tay, who is seven months pregnant.

Ms Tay, 39, who is expecting her second baby, said that under the company's new policy, pregnant actresses are suspended from work but they will be reinstated when they resume work.

Gracing the latest cover of Citta bella, Ms Tay told the Chinese women's magazine that she is now "jobless" and confessed that she felt "troubled" about the situation as she currently has no income.

She said her main concern now is getting her job back after having the baby, who is due in October.

The actress, who has been married for six years to pilot Philip Chionh, also 39, found out that she was pregnant during the Chinese New Year period in February, but chose to announce the good news only after her first trimester.

The couple have a two-year-old son, Brayden.

She was able to continue working during her first pregnancy in 2004, and hosted an infotainment programme educating women on the dos-and-don'ts when having a baby.

Asked if she would consider becoming a full-time mum, the former model-turned-actress said: "No way! I still need to work for myself. So long as the job gives me time to look after my children, I will not become a full-time mum."

She added: "It's not easy being a full-time mum."

Another MediaCorp star, Ms Huang Biren, who is also pregnant, apparently can continue to work because she is being covered by an old contract.

Now two months pregnant with her second child, Miss Huang, who has a seven-year-old son, told Shin Min Daily news that she has not suffered the same fate as Ms Tay and is "still getting her normal salary."

"My current contract is an old one which I signed with MediaCorp four years ago," she said. "It will expire next year after I have given birth, which means I can continue to work even while I am pregnant."

Ms Huang said she is among a small group of artistes who are still on the old contract. Most of the others either renew or sign new contracts which carry the clause that actresses who get pregnant midway through their contacts will be dropped.

How could such thing happen in a First World Country? I am speechless. I mean this is out right sex discrimination right?

Where is the pro-family practices that the government has been trying to tell it's citizen? This is shocking given that it's published in newspaper how company has been encouraged to be world class with world class corporate cultures. But sacking someone because she is pregnant is just not acceptable. What does this mean? Are they saying that a woman stops being productive and contributing to the work force once she has kids?

And what is more shocking is that how some people feel that it's okay because of the industry she is in and she knows what's in her contract when she sign it. And that it's okay because she will be back to work after she gave birth or it's okay because her husband can support her. How can this be right? This clause shouldn't be in the contract in the first place. What if every employer starts including that clause in their contracts and any staff that's 6-month pregnant will be suspended and no longer entitled to maternity leave?

I just feel that this is not right.