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Some women in the workplace have unfortunately experienced pregnancy discrimination.
What is pregnancy discrimination?
According to New York State’s Division of Human Rights, pregnancy discrimination means:
“…taking any adverse action against an employee because the employee is pregnant, intends to become pregnant, recently was pregnant, or recently gave birth. Such adverse actions would include termination, demotion, unwanted transfer, denial of overtime, unwanted reduction of work schedule, or any other adverse action relating to the terms, conditions or privileges of employment.”
Pregnancy discrimination is a type of sex discrimination or familial status discrimination. It can also be a form of disability discrimination, if, in the workplace, it is treated, “differently from other medical conditions.” (This is from the New York State Division of Human Rights’ website, click here for more information.)
Pregnancy conditions are treated as a temporary disability, even though they may not meet the definition of “disability”, the Human Rights Law regulations still apply.
What is required of employers?
Employers must:
- For employees with pregnancy-related conditions employers must provide reasonable accommodations.
Some accommodations may include allowing pregnant women to sit to do a job when they normally would be standing, more frequent bathroom breaks, rescheduling to allow for doctor visits, or transfers away from hazardous duties. (These are just a few examples, to see more, click here.)
- The medical needs of employed women who are pregnant or recently gave birth must be treated the same as medical needs of other employees.
- Employers must not retaliate against any employee who either complained of pregnancy discrimination or who sought accommodations due to being pregnancy. Retaliation is illegal.
Additionally, employers should have a written company procedure for handling accommodations. Employers should also provide yearly employee training on discrimination.
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