Part 5 of a 6-part series examining the steps in-house
counsel should take with pregnant employees
Our first segments in our six-part series on pregnancy in the workplace
focused on how the ADA, FMLA and PDA apply in the workplace to
employees before, during, and after pregnancy and child birth. In
this segment, we narrow our focus to address work restrictions
during pregnancy.
Although pregnancy itself is not a disability, the 2014 EEOC
Guidance on Pregnancy Discrimination nevertheless suggests that
employers must reasonably accommodate temporary, pregnancy-related
medical conditions. Physicians frequently provide pregnant
employees restrictions (e.g., a limited number of hours of work per
day or pounds they can lift, additional breaks). As an initial
matter, employers should always follow a doctor's restrictions
to the letter and instruct the employee she is not to perform work
her doctor has restricted.
