Chapter 2 provides an overview of caregiver discrimination in the workplace. It provides a history of the gendered norms that still affect our workplaces and our lives. It describes the three facets of what I call the “caregiver conundrum”—(1) not enough time; (2) not enough money and opportunities for advancement; and (3) the stereotypes affecting caregivers in the workplace. The chapter then discusses several “lackluster laws” that fail to provide sufficient protection for working caregivers. These include Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which protects against sex discrimination; the Pregnancy Discrimination Act, which protects against discrimination based on pregnancy; and the Family and Medical Leave Act, which mandates job-protected leave in certain circumstances. This chapter demonstrates how inadequate the protections are for most workers who are trying to balance work and family, despite these three laws.

Immunohistochemistry assays can be technically difficult. There are countless opportunities for errors. Some faults can be fixed, and this chapter contains a precise appraisal of common problems encountered along with suggested solutions. Incorporating both pre-analytic conundrums and analytic challenges from a staining perspective, it is written by a medical scientist able to think outside the square and offer resolutions ranging from the practical to the unconventional. All prescribed advice has been tested and proven successful. Suggesting corrective actions is an exercise in giving the worker options and workarounds for certain situations. Doing more with less and less testing material and lifting sections from slides to be used again when the paraffin block is exhausted are two examples of what can be achieved. Ultimately, it is about tuning protocols to make the most of the precious test tissue given whilst eliminating unnecessary wastage.