Pregnancy/Parental Leave

If you have 15 or more employees, you are subject to a federal law that protects pregnant women. The federal Pregnancy Discrimination Act, which is part of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, provides that women affected by pregnancy, childbirth, or related medical conditions must be treated the same as other applicants and employees on the basis of their ability or inability to work. The law protects women against being fired, being refused a job, or being denied a promotion merely because they are pregnant. In addition, a woman usually may not be forced to go on leave as long as she is able to work.

Pregnant women are to be treated in the same manner as other persons with temporary disabilities for purposes of leave as well as participation in benefit plans and health and disability insurance. Further, if other employees who take disability leave are entitled to get their jobs back when they are able to work again, so are women who are unable to work because of pregnancy.

Pregnancy leave versus parental leave. There is a difference between pregnancy leave and parental leave. Pregnancy leave is medical leave that is provided in connection with a pregnancy-related disability, either before or after the birth of a baby. Parental leave, on the other hand, is leave to care for a child, and may apply to adopted children as well as natural-born. Some call parental leave "maternity leave" and offer it only to women. To avoid trouble with the federal or state antidiscrimination laws, you should establish parental leave that allows both male and female employees the same leave benefits upon the birth of a child. Remember that if you have 50 or more employees, you must allow up to 12 weeks of unpaid leave under the federal Family and Medical Leave Act.

State Law

Under state laws, pregnancy-related discrimination is generally prohibited for employment purposes under the provisions that prohibit discrimination based on sex. Several states have laws that specifically address employment decisions and pregnancy. Unlike the federal law, state laws regarding pregnancy often apply to employers with fewer than 15 employees.

Before finalizing your family leave and pregnancy leave policy, you should check to see if your state has family leave laws or pregnancy leave laws that might affect how you set up your policy. We suggest that you check with your state labor agency or your attorney about pregnancy leave laws in your state, and be sure to ask about the following points of compliance:

• how long the leave can be
• whether or not the leave must be paid leave
• which posting requirements you are subject to
• if there are "less strenuous work options" provisions in the law
• how pregnancy should be treated as a disability under state law
• which prohibitions about discrimination against pregnant employees the law contains
• which notification requirements employees may be required to comply with
• which requirements the law has regarding reinstating pregnant employees

A sample pregnancy leave/maternity leave policy is available in the Business Tools area.