Cutting your hours because you’re pregnant isn’t just wrong; it’s considered pregnancy discrimination under California law. If your schedule changed after disclosing your pregnancy and your employer didn’t offer a legitimate reason, you have every reason to take that seriously. Here’s what to do next to protect your time, your income and your job.
Start tracking every schedule change
Begin recording exactly when the changes happen, how many hours your employer cut, who made the decision and what justification they gave (if any). Save copies of schedules, text exchanges and emails that show the difference between your usual workload and what you’re working now. If others in your role continue to receive steady hours, make note of that comparison. This isn’t just recordkeeping; it’s the groundwork for any future action you may need to take.
Ask your employer to explain in writing
You have the right to ask for a written explanation, and doing so puts the burden on your employer to clarify — not just in conversation, but in a form they can’t quietly revise later. Keep your tone professional, but be firm in asking for something you can refer back to. A vague, inconsistent or overly generic answer might seem harmless at first, but it often signals more than your employer wants to admit outright.
Bring the issue to HR or file an internal complaint
If the situation doesn’t improve, file a formal complaint through HR or whatever internal reporting system your workplace uses. Be specific about what changed, when your employer made the change and when you disclosed your pregnancy. You’re not overreacting. You’re identifying a pattern your employer should address. Internal complaints help establish that you followed the process and gave them a fair chance to fix it.
Contact the Civil Rights Department if it continues
If your employer keeps reducing your hours or starts to retaliate in other ways, you can file a complaint with the California Civil Rights Department. The CRD enforces pregnancy discrimination protections and investigates cases involving reduced hours, retaliation and job-related penalties tied to pregnancy. You don’t need a lawyer to begin, but you do need to organize your records and outline a clear timeline that shows what happened and why it matters.
Don’t wait for it to get worse
You don’t have to lose your job to prove something’s wrong. If your hours dropped right after you disclosed your pregnancy, that shift alone is worth paying attention to. The sooner you respond, the more control you keep and the harder it becomes for anyone else to rewrite the story.