China companies facing legal action for allegedly giving pregnancy tests to female applicants
Over a dozen companies in China are facing legal action for allegedly asking female applicants to take pregnancy tests—amid supposed reluctance to hire pregnant workers.
The state-run Procuratorial Daily reported that over 168 women seeking positions at 16 companies in the city of Nantong had been tested illegally as part of their pre-employment physical check.
Employers are reportedly reluctant to recruit women of childbearing age, allegedly asking them in job interviews about family planning or rejecting them despite not wanting to have children.
Following a tip from an online public litigation group, authorities launched an investigation and visited two major public hospitals and a medical exam center. Prosecutors said at least one woman who was found to be expecting wasn't hired.
It's illegal in China for employers to administer pregnancy tests or discriminate against pregnant workers. Offending companies can be fined up to 50,000 yuan (P401,000) for gender discrimination.
Procuratorial Daily neither named any of the companies nor specified whether any of them had been fined.
The issue comes as the country is trying to boost its record-low birth rates amid its economic decline.
China's population has shrunk for two years in a row, with its 2023 birth rate being the lowest since the founding of the People’s Republic in 1949, CNN International noted.
In 2022, India surpassed China as the most populous country worldwide.
For decades, China, the world's second-largest economy, has restrictive birth policies though eased them in recent years. Its "one child" policy was scrapped in 2015 after 35 years, allowing families to have two children.
In 2021, families were allowed to have three children.