New California regulations and pregnancy laws broaden the types of conditions of pregnancy for which workplace accommodations will be required – even if they don’t involve a pregnancy-related disability. With these new regulations on the table, it’s crucial for you to amend your internal policies and practices to ensure compliance with California law.
Understanding California pregnancy laws: Unlawful practices to avoid
Knowing what conditions apply and staying in legal compliance are two different things. In California there are pregnancy laws that relate to the treatment of applicants and employees, and there are also pregnancy laws revolving around the benefits offered to employees. Here’s a rundown of some of the “unlawful employment practices that can be grounds for a lawsuit” that Patricia S. Eyres provided in a recent CER webinar. These items are related to applicants and employees because of pregnancy or perceived pregnancy:
- Refusing to hire an applicant.
- Refusing to select an applicant for a training program leading to employment.
- Refusing to select an employee for a training program leading to promotion.
- Refusing to promote an employee.
- Barring or discharging an applicant or employee.
- Discriminating in the terms, conditions or privileges of employment.
- Harassing an applicant or employee.
- Requiring an employee to take a leave of absence prematurely.
- Transferring an employee affected by pregnancy to another position over her objections.
- Retaliating against or discharging an applicant or employee because she has opposed employment practices forbidden under the Fair Employment and Housing Act (FEHA). This might include people who have requested a reasonable accommodation, transfer or leave; people who have filed a complaint; or people who have testified or assisted in any proceeding under FEHA.
Here’s a rundown of unlawful practices related to employee benefits:
- Refusal to provide employee benefits for pregnancy, if the employer provides such benefits for other temporary disabilities.
- Refusal to maintain and to pay for coverage under a group health plan for an eligible employee who takes pregnancy leave under the same terms and conditions that would have been provided if she had not taken leave.
- Refusal to provide reasonable accommodation for an applicant or employee “affected by pregnancy.”
- Refusal to transfer an employee “affected by pregnancy.”
- Refusal to grant pregnancy disability leave to an employee disabled by pregnancy.
- Denying, interfering with or restraining an employee’s right to reasonable accommodation, to transfer or to take a pregnancy disability leave.
- Retaliating against the employee because she exercised her right to reasonable accommodation, to transfer or to take pregnancy disability leave.
Bear in mind that this is a list of specific actions not to take when it comes to working with pregnant employees. It does not actually outline all of the obligations of California employers as they relate to pregnancy laws. Employers should familiarize themselves with their legal obligations.
The above information is excerpted from the webinar “Pregnancy & Disability Leave in California: How New Regs Will Impact Reasonable Accommodation.” To register for a future webinar, visit CER webinars.
Patricia S. Eyres, Esq., the managing partner of Eyres Law Group, LLP, focuses on helping employers manage disability discrimination issues for both workers’ comp and non-occupational disabilities. As president of Litigation Management & Training Services and CEO/Publisher of Proactive Law Press, LLC, Eyres trains managers and supervisors on how to recognize risks, prevent lawsuits, and maintain defensible documentation.