When Isabelle Jael Isimbi, a marketing staff at Mango Telecom Ltd got fired in mid-November 2021, she took to twitter to protest what she described as pregnancy discrimination. Isimbi was pregnant when she received the depressing news. In the dismissal letter, which Isimbi shared on her twitter handle, Mango Telecom said her health condition could not cope with the job demands. And that the company’s marketing department did not have many ongoing activities at the time to give it the flexibility to change her job responsibilities. The action by Mango Telecom Ltd sparked public outrage with social media users calling it out. Due to sustained public pressure and possible interventions from government and nongovernment labour organisations, the company made a U-turn, reinstating Isimbi to her position hours later. In a way, Isimbi is “lucky”. Unlike her, majority of Rwandan women who are subjected to such forms of discrimination on daily basis are not on twitter – a tool that has proven to be an effective complaints megaphone for some in the country. Angry citizens often use the platform to express their fury over poor service delivery in public and private organisations, while, in some cases, others have exploited it to cause public policy shifts. Moreover, majority of Rwandan women who are subjected to pregnancy and other forms of discrimination at their workplace do not use such social platform, and thus such cases go unreported. Even in established formal channels, cases related to pregnancy discrimination are not reported, at least according to labour experts that The New Times spoke to. For instance, Venuste Ndagijimana, a Labour Inspector in Gasabo District, said that throughout his investigations of labour disputes, he has never received a single case of a woman complaining about pregnancy discrimination. He however agrees that such cases are there but victims never report to concerned institutions. “During investigation, you might sense that there is an opaque reason behind a pregnant woman being fired,” he stated, adding “Probably the employers always create other reasons to fire them without revealing that it is due to their pregnancy.” Innocent Muramira, a lawyer, said that such cases happen in companies and emphasised that being pregnant does not mean that someone is incompetent, because some people work until their date of delivery and there is no research which shows that they are not able to work. According to him, a victim prefers to remain silent and focus on the wellbeing of the baby she is carrying. Pregnant women who are discriminated against at work don’t want to seek court remedy because it is another psychologically daunting process, Muramira noted. “Whenever a woman faces such cases, they should seek help from labour inspectors in districts and legal remedy from court. And in case you can’t afford a lawyer, go to a civil society organization, he said. He said that the victims can get pro bono services from legal aid providers such as Legal Aid Forum. Muramira recommended human resources managers to have internal rules and regulations about pregnant and breastfeeding mothers. Laura Leonne Uwizihiwe, a woman activist, said that cases of pregnancy discrimination are common but employers use fake reasons to dismiss their employees. She says there’s need for campaigns to make sure the loopholes are addressed. People must speak up against injustice in the working place, Uwizihiwe said. “At some point, you might be the victim but again saving the rest.” Dorcas Rutunda, the Country Manager of ITM Africa Ltd, the human resource consulting agency, said that she heard about such cases mostly from word of mouth but has never encountered them in her profession. She added that most employees don’t know their rights and where to report to. Commenting on what should be done to address such issues, she said it is important to educate people on their rights and give them access to advisors. “Have conversations around the subject in order to demystify it and allow women to come forward and speak out whenever they face such,” she added. What the law says According to the labour law, unfair dismissal refers to the termination of an employment contract by the employer without legitimate reasons or respecting procedures provided for by law. The aggrieved party may seek legal redress through the labour inspector’s office. The law also states that a female employee who has given birth is entitled to a maternity leave of at least twelve consecutive weeks. The law states that maternity leave includes at least two weeks a female employee can enjoy before delivery. Article 24 of the Law N° 66/2018 of 30/08/2018 regulating labour in Rwanda Official Gazette no. Special of 06/09/2018 states that the employer cannot terminate an employment contract in case an employee is on a leave. That literally means that even one cannot be fired during maternity leave. In case one is fired during maternity leave, one has to follow procedure and seek legal remedy for unfair dismissal.
