It’s 2017, so why do we still discriminate against pregnant women at work? Pregnancy discrimination involves treating female applicants or employees unfavorably because of pregnancy, childbirth, or a medical condition related to pregnancy or childbirth. Congress passed the Pregnancy Discrimination Act almost 40 years ago to ensure that pregnancy didn’t force women out of work, yet unlawful discrimination still affects female employees.
Pregnancy discrimination involves treating a woman (such as an applicant or employee) unfavorably because of pregnancy, childbirth, or a medical condition related to pregnancy or childbirth. Not only is pregnancy discrimination a protected in New Jersey and Louisiana, it is protected under Federal law too. Under Federal law protects pregnant workers under the Americans with Disabilities Act, Pregnancy Discrimination Act and Family and Medical Leave Act. If a woman is temporarily unable to perform her job due to a medical condition related to pregnancy or childbirth, the employer or other covered entity must treat her in the same way as it treats any other temporarily disabled employee.
Under the Americans with Disabilities Act, impairments resulting from pregnancy may be disabilities. Such disabilities may include gestational diabetes or preeclampsia, a condition characterized by pregnancy-induced hypertension and protein in the urine. An employer may have to provide a reasonable accommodation, like time off from work or modifications that enable an employee to perform her job for a disability related to pregnancy, absent undue hardship. Under the Americans with Disabilities Act, undue hardship means significant difficulty or expense.
The Pregnancy Discrimination Act of 1978 forbids discrimination based on pregnancy when it comes to any part of employment, including hiring, firing, pay, job assignments, promotions, layoff, training, fringe benefits, such as leave and health insurance, and any other term or condition of employment. An employer that allows temporarily disabled employees to take disability leave or leave without pay must allow a pregnant employee to do the same. Moreover, employers must hold open a job for a pregnancy-related absence the same length of time that jobs are held open for employees on sick or temporary disability leave.
Additionally, under the Family and Medical Leave Act of 1993, a new parent (including foster and adoptive parents) may be eligible for 12 weeks of unpaid or paid leave that may be used for the care of the new child. To be eligible, the employee must have worked for the employer for 12 months prior to taking the leave and the employer must have a specified number of employees.
READ MORE HERE: https://discriminationandsexualharassmentlawyers.com/pregnancy-discrimination-in-2017/
