LEGAL RIGHTS
I want to know my rights as a pregnant and/or parenting employee.
Pregnancy discrimination is illegal, but you may still feel nervous about talking to your boss about your pregnancy. Here are some ways to prepare for this conversation:
Review your employer's pregnancy-related and family leave policies. Next, check your state laws. PregnantAtWork.com offers state-by-state handouts on your rights in your state of employment: https://www.pregnantatwork.org/pregnant-women-pregnancy/.
Need more backup? Learn your legal rights under the federal law. (Linked below.)
If you've had challenges with previous pregnancies, prepare to ask for what accommodations you may need to safely and effectively participate in your workplace: https://www.pregnantatwork.org/wp-content/uploads/Workable-Accommodation-Ideas.pdf
Prepare your questions and concerns before you talk with your boss. We recommend that you review What To Expect's "When and How to Tell Your Boss You’re Pregnant" for more tips on preparation and timing: https://www.whattoexpect.com/pregnancy/work-issues/politics-and-policies/when-to-tell-your-boss.aspx
The Center for WorkLife Law
Pregnant@Work
https://www.pregnantatwork.org/
Phone: (415) 703-8276
Email: hotline@worklifelaw.org
Pregnant@Work offers information on rights and accommodations for pregnant and parenting employees. Contact the Center for WorkLife Law’s free legal hotline to speak to a lawyer about your rights.
Accommodating Pregnant Employees: https://www.pregnantatwork.org/accommodating-pregnant-employees/
Breastfeeding Employees: https://www.pregnantatwork.org/pregnant-women-pregnancy/breastfeeding-employees/
Workable Accommodation Ideas for Typical Pregnancy-Related Conditions: https://www.pregnantatwork.org/wp-content/uploads/Workable-Accommodation-Ideas.pdf
quick facts about your rights.
"An employer cannot refuse to hire a pregnant woman because of her pregnancy, because of a pregnancy-related condition, or because of the prejudices of co-workers, clients, or customers."
SOURCE: EEOC, “Facts about Pregnancy Discrimination.”
You can tell your employer and your co-workers on your own terms. Your employer cannot enforce mandatory pregnancy reporting.
SOURCE: EEOC, “Fact Sheet on Recent EEOC Pregnancy-Discrimination Litigation.” (See: EEOC v. Muskegon River Youth Home)
"An employer may not single out pregnancy-related conditions for special procedures to determine an employee's ability to work. However, if an employer requires its employees to submit a doctor's statement concerning their inability to work before granting leave or paying sick benefits, the employer may require employees affected by pregnancy-related conditions to submit such statements.
If an employee is temporarily unable to perform her job because of her pregnancy, the employer must treat her the same as any other temporarily disabled employee. For example, if the employer allows temporarily disabled employees to modify tasks, perform alternative assignments, or take disability leave or leave without pay, the employer also must allow an employee who is temporarily disabled because of pregnancy to do the same.
Pregnant employees must be permitted to work as long as they are able to perform their jobs."
SOURCE: EEOC, “Facts about Pregnancy Discrimination.”
Your employer cannot demote you for reason of pregnancy. This includes demotion in title, from full-time to part-time, or similar actions that reduce your role within your organization. Other situations that limit employment opportunities for pregnant women would include: placing them on involuntary leave, refusing to let them continue working beyond a certain point in the pregnancy, or limiting work assignments due to employer safety concerns.
SOURCE: EEOC, “Fact Sheet on Recent EEOC Pregnancy-Discrimination Litigation.”
“Harassment based on pregnancy or a pregnancy-related medical condition is not allowed under the PDA and ADA. You should tell your employer about any harassment if you want the employer to stop the problem. Follow your employer's reporting procedures if there are any. If you report the harassment, your employer is legally required to take action to prevent it from occurring in the future.”
Pregnancy-related conditions are not exclusively pregnancy. This may also apply to situations like miscarriage or infertility.
SOURCE: EEOC, “Legal Rights for Pregnant Workers under Federal Law.”
"Pregnancy-related benefits cannot be limited to married employees. In an all-female workforce or job classification, benefits must be provided for pregnancy-related conditions if benefits are provided for other medical conditions."
SOURCE: EEOC, “Facts About Pregnancy Discrimination.”
"If you are a non-exempt employee, your employer is required by the Break Time for Nursing Mothers Law to provide you with reasonable break time to express milk and a space that is not a bathroom where you can express milk in private without anyone intruding on you until your baby is one year old. If you are an exempt employee, you are not covered by the Break Time for Nursing Mothers Law, but you may still be entitled to accommodations under other laws. The federal Pregnancy Discrimination Act requires that employers give nursing employees the same freedom to address lactation-related needs as is given to employees with other medical conditions. For example, if employees are allowed to modify their schedule to attend doctor’s appointments or are given alternative assignments to accommodate temporary illnesses, the same accommodations should be provided to employees with lactation-related needs. Many states have their own lactation accommodation laws."
Learn More: PregnantAtWork.org, Breastfeeding Employees, https://www.pregnantatwork.org/pregnant-women-pregnancy/breastfeeding-employees/
Crazy right?!?! But this has actually happened! Here is the case:
"EEOC v. The WW Group, Inc. d/b/a/ Weight Watchers (E.D. Mich. No. 2:12-cv-11124) (resolved 4/1/2014). The EEOC filed sued against Weight Watchers under Title VII alleging that one location refused to hire an applicant as a group leader because she was pregnant. The applicant was a lifetime member of Weight Watchers who had successfully met and maintained her weight goals before becoming pregnant. According to the EEOC, when Weight Watchers learned of the applicant's pregnancy, it told her that it did not hire pregnant women and refused to consider her any further. In addition, Weight Watchers allegedly discriminated against the applicant based on pregnancy-related weight by disqualifying her by using a "goal weight" requirement for employees. Weight Watchers agreed to settle the lawsuit for $45,000, in addition to non-monetary relief, via a consent decree including provisions for equal employment opportunity training, posting of anti-discrimination notices and a revision to the company's "goal weight" policy to comply with the Pregnancy Discrimination Act."
SOURCE: U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), “Fact Sheet on Recent EEOC Pregnancy-Discrimination Litigation.”