Their alleged actions 'violated women's rights to equal work opportunities'
Sixteen employers in Nantong City in China are facing legal action for allegedly making women undergo pregnancy tests during recruitment, according to reports.
Prosecutors in Tongzhou district in Nantong City in China filed the case after finding that the companies' recruitment and staff insurance records indicated they were making female jobseekers to go through the test to see if they were pregnant.
In one case, a woman who was found expecting a baby was not hired.
"We can speculate from this evidence that the pregnancy tests were required by these companies, and it had violated women's rights to equal work opportunities," prosecutors said as quoted by the South China Moring Post (SCMP).
Discrimination against pregnant applicants
The investigation was launched after prosecutors in the district received a tip from an online public litigation group alleging that some employers in Nantong have been giving pregnancy tests to jobseekers.
The investigation led prosecutors to two major public hospitals and a medical exam centre, where they found 168 pregnancy tests were administered on job applicants for 16 companies.
According to the hospitals, no written warning was given to the women who went through the test. They only received vague verbal warnings, the SCMP reported, citing the state-run Procuratorial Daily.
Prosecutors reached out to the local bureau of human resources and social security after the investigation, which then warned the companies and hospitals about the unlawful action.
The woman who was previously rejected for expecting a baby eventually got hired after the employer received a warning. She was also given compensation.
In China, employers are banned from making women go through pregnancy tests or discriminating against pregnant workers during recruitment.
The reports did not say whether the employers in Nantong have been fined, but Chinese law states that such violations can lead to fines of up to 50,000 yuan.