Would you hire a pregnant woman?

Most of us can probably remember a boss or two who would have liked to ask if we planned to have children and when during an interview but held his (or her) tongue and took a gamble. I entered the work force at a time when managers knew they couldn't ask those questions, but there were plenty before them who did, and others who didn't but made a decision to avoid hiring a soon-to-be pregnant woman at all cost -- forget hiring a pregnant woman for an open position.

So much has changed, right? It has at many companies, but a British survey of managers found some disheartening yet honest answers when only 5 percent said they have knowingly hired a pregnant woman. Another 52 percent said that when making a hire they try to figure out if and when a woman will get pregnant, taking into account her age (if they know it?) and whether she is recently married. And a pretty solid majority (68) percent said they would like to ask job candidates about their plans to start a family during interviews.

As if planning is everything. There are lots of things in life we have control over and many more we don't, and pregnancy is one of them. Life throws lots of disruptions at us, long and short, that we have to move work schedules around. When an employee works hard and does a good job before and after those life changes/disruptions, most good managers and co-workers are willing to adjust schedules and job responsibilities in the short-term for the long-term greater good.

Christina Bielaszka-DuVernay, editor of the Harvard Management Update, notes that it's understandable managers would want to avoid the inconvenience, costs, and responsibility-shifting needed when a new hire goes on leave within a year -- whether it's for 12 weeks unpaid, as it is for most U.S. employees, or up to 52 weeks partially paid as allowed by U.K. law. "But at the same time I wonder how many managers consider that, in passing over pregnant candidates, they might be missing out on long-term value in the form of intense employee loyalty?" she writes.

Bielaszka-DuVernay was hired when she was 8 months pregnant, and her employer, Harvard Business School Publishing, treated her leave as any other employee's even though it was not required by law to do so. The result: Yes, an intensely loyal employee.

"I was in l-o-v-e: with the job, with my boss, with the organization. I worked at work, and then I went home and worked some more, wherever I could wedge it in: in the evening between feedings, on weekends, and during holidays. I even pulled a few all-nighters for big projects, compensating for the caffeine intake by giving my infant a bottle instead of nursing him at his next feeding. And rarely, if ever, did this feel burdensome. I was just paying my boss and my company back."

Most of us would do and feel the same.

So, managers, do you guess when someone may or may not get pregnant when making a hiring decision, or does it not even make your list of criteria? Would you hire a pregnant woman if she was the right person for the position?

Some questions for all of us: Have you ever been hired when pregnant? Or do you think you've been passed over for new jobs, promotions in your current jobs, and certain assignments because you were pregnant or a boss thought you would be, one day soon?