I contacted the manager of my local Seminary and Institute Preservice Training Office today to clarify Church Educational System employment policies regarding mothers. Here are some of the things I learned.
Question: Is it true that mothers may not be seminary teachers?
Answer: No, that is not true. Mothers of young children are discouraged from being seminary teachers.
Question: So CES does hire mothers to be seminary teachers?
Answer: CES will hire mothers whose children are all over 18 and whose children have all graduated from high school.
Question: CES also hires women without children to be seminary teachers, right?
Answer: That is correct.
Question: What happens to a female seminary teacher who has a baby? Can she continue teaching seminary?
Answer: She stops teaching seminary when she has a baby.
Question: She is fired?
Answer: No. Female seminary teachers understand this when they are hired. They know that they will only work as seminary teachers until they have children.
Question: Do they have the option of continuing to teach when they become mothers?
Answer: They do not want to keep working full-time after they have children. They want to stay home with their children.
Question: Doesn’t the Family Medical Leave Act require employers to allow mothers to return to work after maternity leave?
Answer: The Church has met all of the legal requirements to implement this policy.
Question: Do the same policies apply to institute teachers?
Answer: Yes.
Question: May mothers of young children work for CES in other capacities, such as secretaries or administrators?
Answer: Yes. Institute and seminary teaching positions have unique requirements. We do have young mothers working at CES in other kinds of positions and in other church departments.
Question: Do the same policies apply to unpaid seminary teachers?
Answer: No. Seminary teachers who teach as a calling only teach one class a day, not full-time, so local Stake Presidents decide who should have these callings.
