Family responsibilities discrimination also called caregiver discrimination is discrimination in the workplace based on an employees responsibility real or perceived to care for family members employers may discriminate based on family responsibilities when they deny employment or promotions harass pay less or otherwise take negative employment action against an employee because of the employees family responsibilities. Family responsibility discrimination frd is one of them people who do not have work experience may not be familiar with the term according to joan william and consuela pinto frd also called caregiver discrimination is discrimination against employees because of their family caregiving responsibilities 2008 more specifically pregnant women mothers and fathers of young children and employees with aging parents or sick spouses or partners may encounter frd they may be . The family and medical leave act fmla is the primary federal law that helps employees with their obligations by requiring employers to grant a specific amount of unpaid time off from a job to care either for themselves or a family member in the event of illness injury or the birth of a child you are entitled to these days off without fear of job loss or retaliation unfortunately some employers deny benefits under fmla or discriminate against employees who use their benefits. Significantly women of color may be especially impacted by family responsibilities discrimination african american mothers with young children are more likely to be employed than other women raising young children and both african american and hispanic women are more likely to be raising children in a single parent household than are white or asian women women of color also may devote more