Pregnancy Discrimination in the Workplace – What an Employment Attorney Can Do For You

Pregnancy should be one of the happiest times in a woman's life and she should be looking forward to the arrival of her new born baby. Instead, if she finds herself being discriminated against in the workplace, not only will she feel very distressed but she may find herself feeling anger towards her unborn child.

Discrimination based on pregnancy is illegal. Federal and many state laws disallow discrimination on the basis of pregnancy, childbirth and related medical conditions. Federal law is relevant to all employers with 15 or more workers and Californian law is applicable to all employers with 5 or more employees. If you or a loved one feels that they have been discriminated against in their place of work, then it is advisable to contact a team of Los Angeles employment lawyer who can discuss your case with you.

So what can be considered as pregnancy discrimination?

Pregnancy discrimination comes in all manner of guises and includes the following actions by an employer:

• refusal to hire an applicant because she is pregnant
• firing or demoting an employee who is pregnant
• treating a pregnant employee in a different way from other workers who are temporarily disabled
• refusing to give the employee her same job back or a similar one, once she returns from pregnancy related leave

It is also illegal for discrimination based on the 'potential' of a woman becoming pregnant. An example of this is a recent case where a manufacturing company refused to give women certain jobs which were deemed to be harmful to the unborn fetus should a woman find herself pregnant. This was declared to be illegal discrimination. It is also illegal for an employer to enquire as to whether or not a prospective employee is thinking of having children at some point. If you have been the victim of any of these actions, then please do consult with an employment attorney Los Angeles who can discuss your rights with you, and put your mind at ease.

Accommodating pregnancy

If you live in California you have the right to expect certain behavior from your employer. For example if on the advice of her doctor, a pregnant woman asks her employer for a less hazardous or strenuous position, then that employer must move her to another position if he has one, or may create one without too much effort. In other words if must do all he can to comply with his pregnant employee's request.

Under federal and state laws, an employer must allow certain employees up to 12 weeks of unpaid leave a year, for the following reasons:

• a serious health condition which prevents a person from carrying out their job
• to act as a carer for a sick child, spouse or parent who is seriously ill
• to care for a newly born child, newly adopted child, or a foster child

This federal law is known as the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA). The Californian law is known as the Californian Family Rights Act (CFRA) and is almost identical to the FMLA. To qualify for leave under these laws, you need to pass the following criteria:

• been in employment with your current employer for at least 12 months
• worked a minimum of 1,250 hours throughout the 12 months before your leave (about 25 hours a week)
• worked for an employer with a minimum of 50 employees within a 75 mile radius of your workplace

Additional pregnancy leave

Under Californian state law, you may also be entitled to take a further unpaid pregnancy leave of up to four months, if you are disabled because of pregnancy, childbirth or other medically related matters no matter how long you have been employed, or how many hours that you work, and as long as your employer employs 5 or more workers. If you have been unwell during your pregnancy or needed additional leave after the birth of your child, and this has been denied, then again it is in your interests to consult a team of California employment lawyers who are well versed in this field.

If you qualified to take additional pregnancy leave then you should not have been harassed or discriminated against by your employer. Also you should not have suffered harassment simply because you asked for information about your rights and requesting leave.

If you feel that you may have a case to answer, then pick up the phone and an employment attorney will be only too pleased to give you a free no obligation meeting to discuss your grievance.