Qatar Airways is being criticized for an outdated and misogynistic policy that requires female employees to seek permission from the company before getting married, according to FOX News.
A report was released Tuesday from the International Transport Workers' (ITF) Federation that stated that the airline has a mandate that requires female employees to inform a supervisor if they get pregnant, at which point they may face termination from their job. If they fail to disclose this information, they can also face being fired, according to Al Arabia English.
"You are required to obtain prior permission from the company, in case you wish to change your marital status and get married," reads a standard hiring contract for female employees, according to the ITF.
"The employee shall notify the employer in case of pregnancy from the date of her knowledge of its occurrence," the contract continues. "The employer shall have the right to terminate the contract of employment from the date of notification of the pregnancy.
"Failure of employee to notify the employer or the concealment of the occurrence shall be considered a breach of contract," the contract states.
Many employees of the airline aren't Qatari nationals and rely on their employment with the company for their work visas under a sponsorship program.
The trade unions were not expecting a major reaction from the airlines.
"We would expect that the airline will try to paint a picture of their operations and say [that the allegations] are essentially not the truth," Sharan Burrow, the general secretary of the International Trade Union Confederation, told Al Arabiya English on Wednesday.
Qatar Airways employs 28,000 people.
The airline didn't comment when Fox News reached out to them for a comment. The Senior Corporate Communications Manager, Madonna Walsh, told Al Arabiya English that a response to the report would be released soon.
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