Does being a parent hurt you on the job?

They're qualified and hard-working and yet they fear they won't be hired -- because they're moms.

There's a new name -- maternal profiling -- for the old problem of employers discriminating against women who have children or may one day plan to. Sometimes they're simply seen as a risk -- will they be juggling childcare arrangements when you need them to complete a job, will they have to stay home with a sick kid when they're supposed to make a presentation? Sometimes they're discreetly slipped into mommy tracks that never lead to top jobs.

Twenty-one states (not including Ohio or Kentucky) specifically ban discrimination based on marital status. There are federal laws and state laws in Ohio and Kentucky that prohibit discrimination against pregnant women.

Still, on-the-job issues get murky. Women often don't know how much employers can ask about family issues, and discriminatory behavior can be subtle and hard to prove.

I'm interested in if you've encountered this matter -- maybe as a mom, but maybe as another employee who feels you've had to pick up the slack when a co-worker continually has to deal with family issues, or as an employer who has to manage it all.

And I don't think for a minute that dads aren't discriminated against as well -- let us hear your thoughts.