Know these 8 rights of pregnant women at work
For the first time in 30 years, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission issued new guidance on how to interpret the PDA and other laws protecting pregnant women on the job. Here s what you need to know.
1. An employer cannot fire a woman becaupatagonia women better sweaterse she s pregnant:
Sometimes, employers try to disguise the discrimination behind good intentions. They explain they re worried about safety, for example. In other cases, the discrimination is more blatant. Either way, it s illegal.
Take this example from a wings restaurpatagonia shoes online canadaant chain in the Houston area. The company had a written policy to lay off female workers after the third patagonia better sweater hatmonth of their pregnancies. A federal investigation showed the company laid off eight pregnant employees. A manager told investigators that keeping pregnant employees at work any longer would be irresponsible in respect to her child s safety.
But companies cannot fire employees for patagonia store glens falls nythis reason. Exceptions are rare, even when a job entails being exposed to toxic chemicals or lifting heavy objects. Courts have ruled that decisions about the safety of the woman and fetus are up to the employee and her doctor, not her boss.
2. A company cannot refuse to hire a woman because she s pregnant or because she may become pregnant in the future:
Peggy Mastroianni, Legal Counsel in the EEOC, said this is very common, especially with workers applying for low wage jobs.
This problem occurs even at companies that rely on pregnant women as their customers.
A patagonia guide hoody reviewPhiladelphia based franchise of clothes retailer Motherhood Maternity paid $375,000 to settle a pregnancy discrimination and retaliation suit in 2007, after the company allegedly refused to hire three qualified female applicants because they were pregnant.
It s also illegal to not hire a woman because she may become pregnant in the future.
There is still a stigma against hiring younger women for some jobs, where an employer wants to know somebody is going to be on a job for years without interruption, said Vicki Shabo, vice president at the National Partnership for Women Families.
3. New mothers have the right to pump breast milk at work in a safe place. A company cannot fire or discriminate against a woman because she s lactating:
You can thank Obamacare for this protection.
The Affordable Care Act requires employers provide reasonable breaks to new mothers to pump breast milk for up to one year after a child s birth. Employers are also required to provide a safe and private place other than apatagonia better sweater coat women bathroom, to do so.
But there is an exception for small companies. If a company with fewer than 50 employees can prove that offering breaks or a private space would cause undue hardship to the company, it may not have to offer this accommodation to their employees.
4. In some cases, pregnancy related conditions may entitle women to special accommodations:
A normal pregnancy without complications is not considered a disability under federal law, and it does not entitle a worker to special treatmepatagonia discount code yandynt.
That said, women who have complications or temporary impairments related to their pregnancy, must be treated the same as other workers with medical impairments.
If a company has a policy in place that, patagonia shoes online canada3for example, offers a light duty assignment for a few months to a worker who injured his back, the company is also expected to provide reasonable accommodations to a pregnant woman who requires light duty due to her pregnancy.
Other examples of reasonable accommodations may include letting a worker sit on a stool rather than stand during her shift, changing her work schedule if she has severe morning sickness, or allowing her to keep apatagonia guide jacket brand water bottle at her work station.
The worker usually needs to provide a doctor spatagonia guide jacket invitations note, establishing there s a medical condition that may temporarily limit her work capabilities. In the case of a pregnancy, cpatagonia shoes online canada1ommon impairments include severe morning sickness, back pain, high blood pressure, gestational diabetes and complications thpatagonia guide pants around your kneesat require bed rest.
There are some exceptions, but again, to avoid providing an accommodation, an employer has to prove that doing so would cause patagonia shoes online canada2 undue hardship to the company.
5. An employer patagonia shoes online canada0cannot force you to take time off or change jobs, if you re still able to do your job:
Sometimes an employer thinks they re acting in the best interest of the employee or protecting itself from liabilities when it decides to reassign a pregnant woman or new parent to a less strenuous job.
