Federal enforcement of recent office protections for pregnant staff is selecting up steam, simply as laws implementing these necessities attain 100 days on the books.
The U.S. Equal Employment Alternative Fee filed its first lawsuit alleging violations of the Pregnant Staff Equity Act earlier this month and adopted it up with two extra Wednesday.
Lodging a typical thread
Within the first lawsuit, EEOC v. Wabash Nationwide Company, the fee alleged an employer denied a pregnant worker’s lodging request to switch to a task that didn’t require mendacity on her abdomen. She ultimately resigned at eight months pregnant, based on EEOC.
The newest complaints, EEOC v. Polaris Industries, Inc., and EEOC v. Urologic Specialists of Oklahoma, Inc., equally targeted on the legislation’s lodging requirement.
Within the former, the employer allegedly refused to excuse an worker’s absences for pregnancy-related circumstances and medical appointments, and required her to work obligatory extra time regardless of a health care provider’s restriction. It threatened the worker with termination if she was absent once more, so she resigned to keep away from termination, EEOC claimed.
Within the latter case, the employer allegedly refused to permit an worker to take a seat, take breaks or work half time as her physician required for the ultimate trimester of her high-risk being pregnant. The employer as a substitute pressured her to take unpaid depart, EEOC mentioned.
Employer takeaways
Whereas challenges to EEOC’s PWFA laws make their method by means of courtroom, employment legislation attorneys have typically urged compliance.
HR professionals might wish to take specific observe of the lodging mandate which, in contrast to the Individuals With Disabilities Act, doesn’t have a severity threshold for pregnancy-related lodging.
In different phrases, “a employee with a wholesome and regular being pregnant might search and obtain an lodging underneath the PWFA,” Emily Litzinger, a companion at legislation agency Fisher Phillips, mentioned in an evaluation Tuesday.
Employers are anticipated to have interaction in an interactive course of with the worker in search of lodging, and EEOC’s laws particularly prohibit employers from requiring an worker to just accept a modification “aside from any cheap lodging arrived at by means of the interactive course of.” The statute itself prohibits an employer from requiring a lined worker to take depart, whether or not paid or unpaid, if one other cheap lodging could be supplied.
Different fees in EEOC’s three lawsuits included alleged missteps round medical documentation. In accordance with the fee, employers can not request documentation if the necessity is apparent — a request for a bigger uniform resulting from being pregnant or to take a seat, for instance.
