The Pregnancy Discrimination Act

• The Pregnancy Discrimination Act says employers with more than 15 employees cannot discriminate against pregnant employees, including pregnant teens. They cannot refuse to hire teens because they are pregnant and cannot fire teens if they become pregnant, as long as they can perform the major functions of their jobs. In reality, though, some employers may feel reluctant to hire pregnant teens and may turn them down when they apply for jobs without stating the real reason for not offering them jobs.
  
  

Family and Medical Leave Act

• The Family and Medical Leave Act, or FMLA, requires most employers with more than 50 employees to allow employees that meet specific eligibility criteria to take up to 12 weeks of unpaid leave following the birth of a child. However, employees must have worked for that employer for 12 months and must have worked at least 1,250 hours during the past 12 months. Many teens have not held a job for 12 months when they become pregnant and even if they have held their jobs that long, most teens only work part time so they may not have worked 1,250 hours in the past 12 months.
  
  

Lack of Opportunities

• According to an article on MSNBC, "A Baby Changes Everything: The True Cost of Teen Pregnancy's Uptick," published on Feb. 19, 2010, only 40 percent of teen moms graduate from high school. Lack of a high school diploma significantly limits job opportunities for teen moms. Of course, some pregnant teen aren't old enough to graduate yet, so they have limited opportunities even if they stay in school. Teens may lack prior work experience, which also limits job opportunities. Pregnant teens that wish to stay in school may want only part time jobs and only those jobs with evening and weekend hours, which poses further limitations on their opportunities.
  
  

Problems on the Job

• According to Modern Mom, the most common industries employing teenage girls include retail sales and food services. These jobs typically involve standing for long hours, which may become difficult for young women near the end of their pregnancies. Young women that experience significant nausea during pregnancy may find working in food service particularly difficult, as well. Fatigue during pregnancy is common, and teens that attempt to work and go to school may have trouble concentrating by the time they get to work because they feel so exhausted.