Pregnancy || An increasingly desperate government has now called for whistleblowers in its attempts to boost the country’s plummeting birth rate.
The reason, newspapers reveal, is that there are apparently companies that make women sign declarations swearing not to get pregnant for ‘x’-number of months.
Whether this is true or not remains to be proved, as the man who made the surprising allegation agrees he has nothing solid to back it up.
Joaquim Azevedo, leader of the government think-tank on how to formulate a ‘plan of action’ to boost the country’s dismal birth record, has simply said he knows of cases.
According to one newspaper, the time limit on declarations is five to six months. According to another, it is five years.
Azevedo is also reported to have said that Portugal will be ‘unsustainable’ in less than 50 years’ time if “nothing is done” – and he has been given a month to come up with his ‘cure all’ plan.
Meantime, the Secretary of State for Equality Teresa Morais has said that “up until now, there are no complaints” of women having had to sign these kind of declarations.
According to news reports, she has challenged Azevedo to come up with proof, but the university professor has refused to say any more.
Needless to say, any such declarations would be “illegal” and totally against the Labour Code, said Morais. She has appealed to any women who have been cajoled into signing an “I-promise-not-to-get-pregnant” clause in their work contracts to come forwards – though she did tell newspapers that Article 17 of the Labour Code should be enough to protect employees.
In plain language, Article 17 states: “The employer cannot ask a candidate for work, or a worker, to give information pertaining to their health or state of pregnancy except when those particulars would affect the nature of their activity.”
