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Home » Areas of Practice » Labor Laws

Pregnancy Discrimination

Pregnancy Discrimination| Attorneys for Orlando, Tampa, Fort Myers, Jacksonville and Miami

The Pregnancy Discrimination Act is a revision to the Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. Under that section of the act, discrimination based on pregnancy, childbirth, and related medical conditions is illegal. Women who are in the midst of pregnancy or other conditions related to childbirth must be treated with the same respect.

Hiring practices

As long as a woman is still able to perform her job to the best of her ability, an employer cannot deny her employment due to a condition related to pregnancy. This also holds true if the woman’s potential coworkers and clients are prejudice against pregnant employees.

Pregnancy and maternity leave

When determining an employee’s ability to get the job done, an employer is not allowed to single that person out because they are pregnant. Instead, they are to assess the pregnant employee’s capabilities using the same methods of screening that they would use on all employees. For example, if standard practice is for an employee to submit a doctor’s note before going on sick leave, a pregnant employee would also be expected to do the same.

If an employee is limited by pregnancy in terms of the tasks they are able to perform, the employer is expected to treat her as any other temporarily disabled employee would be treated (i.e. accommodating through customized or alternative assignments, disability leave, or leave without pay.

As long as they are still able to meet the goals outlined in their job descriptions, pregnant employees should still be permitted to work. If an employee has been taking time off as a result of a symptom caused by pregnancy, and her condition improves, the employer reserves the right to call her back into work before the baby is due. On the contrary, employers do not always have rules in place defining a period of time that a woman must stay home before returning to work following childbirth.

Employers must keep a job open for an absence due to pregnancy for the same length of time that jobs are normally held open for workers on sick or disability leave.

Health insurance

Employer-provided health insurance must offer compensation for conditions caused by pregnancy in the same manner as it would for any other medical conditions. Insurance is not required to cover abortion costs unless the mother’s life is threatened as a result of the procedure.

Pregnancy expenditures should be reimbursed identically to other medical conditions; repayment is either on a fixed rate or a percentage of reasonable and customary charge basis. The amount picked up by the insurance carrier for medical costs related to pregnancy is treated no differently from what is payable for other conditions; the insurer cannot request a supplementary or increased deductible.

Employers must offer matching health benefits packages for partners of male employees as they would for partners of female employees.

Fringe benefits

Pregnancy benefits should not be reduced to employees who are married. In a female-dominated industry, benefits have to be available for pregnancy conditions just the same as other medical problems.

If an employer offers benefits for staff members on leave, it should supply women on pregnancy leave with those same incentives. Employees with disabled by pregnancy are required to receive the same treatment as other employees with short-term disabilities in terms of accumulation and validation of seniority, vacation accrual, salary increases, and temporary disability benefits.