Comparative analysis of pregnancy accommodation laws across states (led by Dr. Melissa Bass). Pregnancy accommodations refer to changes in the workplace or the way a job is typically performed that provide a pregnant person with equal employment opportunity. The United States needs a national or uniform pregnancy accommodation law to equally protect pregnant women from job loss, wage loss, threats to their pregnancy, and other forms of discrimination.
I compare state pregnancy accommodation laws to provide a policy recommendation on possible ways to address the problem of lack of protection for pregnant women in the workplace due to lack of accommodation laws. I recommend that all states adopt the model law proposed to ensure equal access to pregnancy accommodations.
INTRODUCTION
The fact that women in the United States are participating more frequently and playing a greater role in the workforce reinforces the need for laws that protect pregnant women in the workplace. According to the National Women Law Center's 2017 report on women's wages, two-thirds of the 23 million low-wage workers in the United States are women, and many low-income jobs include physical labor (Low-Wage Jobs Archives). Because workplace pregnancies will affect so many women throughout their lives, pregnancy discrimination in the employment market remains an area of law that legal scholars must reevaluate and study.
These issues persist because the Pregnancy Discrimination Act does not provide full protection to women in the workplace against anti-pregnancy attitudes and behavior from superiors. While informative, they fail to explain how current state maternity leave laws compare and what policy recommendations can be derived from their comparison to better protect pregnant women in the workforce.
LITERATURE REVIEW
She puts it, "the question is whether workplaces will continue to be designed around the bodies and lifestyles of men, with 'accommodations' offered to women, or whether workplace norms will be redesigned to take them into account. Cuomo hopes these efforts will make New York a "safer and stronger state for everyone." The campaign focuses on multilingual subway ads and an accessible webpage detailing "the state law, rights of employees and responsibilities of employers" to address a lack of understanding by all parties involved. The results demonstrate the authors' theory that "cultural and structural power differentials are reinforced by the culturally resonant strategies employed by employers in pregnancy discrimination disputes." The study and its results provide a good example of academic research discussing pregnancy.
They conclude by saying, "The law has offered a series of partial strategies that have recognized the places where gender differences really matter, but have not resolved the conflict." The book describes the problems, including how some have been solved, but ends with the message that pregnancy discrimination remains a problem for employees and employers. He says, "for those in high-risk occupations or with medically complicated pregnancies, work accommodations can often allow continued secure employment." The quote reinforces the idea that not all pregnant women need shelter, but for those who do, it can have a huge impact. It says, "Lifting weights, standing for long periods of time, or bending too much during pregnancy can increase the chances of miscarriage, premature birth, or injury during pregnancy." The article describes physical demands including what they are, why they matter, what jobs typically have them, and how to reduce or eliminate exposure to them.
Karsten says "The piecemeal approach to legislation addressing pregnancy in the workplace leads to such gaps and complicated workplace finesse." The quote highlights the difficulty in understanding the legality of certain actions regarding pregnant workers due to multiple relevant laws without specific direction leading to different and vague court.
PREGNANCY DISCRIMINATION ACT
Guerra, which served as the first case before the Supreme Court to interpret the PDA (Deardorff, 2016). At issue was whether the PDA overturned a California statute that requires pregnant employees to be granted leave and guaranteed reinstatement. As a result, the Supreme Court ruled that states may go beyond the PDA in their statutes as long as they do not operate with standards under the PDA.
Other Supreme Court cases involving the PDA have found that states cannot deny unemployment benefits based on pregnancy or termination of pregnancy, that businesses cannot discriminate based on the possibility of pregnancy, and that the immediate effects of maternity leave taken before the PDA was passed, they are not covered by the PDA (Deardorff, 2016). The PDA states that pregnant workers should be treated "as other persons who are not as impaired but are similar in their ability or inability to work." The ambiguity in the wording of this phrase has allowed employers to all too often require blind pregnancy policies, leading to many cases like Young's. This new interpretation means that employers violate the PDA if they hire some female workers but deny the same accommodation to pregnant women, even if the accommodation was also denied to other non-pregnant employees.
While UPS was found to be in error in this case, the new interpretation does not provide adequate criteria for other employers and leaves too much room for employers to claim pregnancy-blind practices. The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) was created by Congress through Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and serves to issue rules and regulations and to investigate claims under Title VII (Summary, n.d.). As judicial interpretations of the PDA have changed, the EEOC has updated its guidance on the subject.
The intersection of the PDA and Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) is explained and regulated by the EEOC, whereby pregnancy-related medical conditions disabilities are covered and reasonable accommodation must be provided, unless the. To combat the shortcomings of the PDA, certain states have adopted statutes to combat its problems at the state level. Yet pregnancy discrimination continues to occur in the United States workforce forty years after the enactment of the PDA, because the PDA provides a low and unclear national minimum standard of protection for pregnant employees.
STATE LAWS
With respect to states where maternity accommodation laws cover all employers, businesses with small workforces or specialized jobs may claim undue hardship if they are unable to accommodate maternity workers. The state maternity accommodation laws of Connecticut, Delaware, Vermont, Hawaii, North Dakota, South Carolina, Rhode Island and New York do not mention doctor's notes at all, leaving the employer discretion. Many states require notice of pregnancy accommodation laws and changes to these laws.
Employers in states such as Rhode Island, Vermont, South Carolina and Nevada must post their state's pregnancy accommodation laws in lieu of. Notification remains an important element in pregnancy accommodation laws to keep all parties aware of current laws. California, for example, has a definition chapter that defines employer, reasonable accommodation, and undue hardship; an article detailing the required notice of pregnancy accommodation laws; and an article outlining the rules of pregnancy accommodation in the state.
Therefore, specific state or federal laws that discuss pregnancy accommodations, such as Washington, D.C.'s Protecting Pregnant Workers Fairness Act of 2014, provide greater accessibility and understanding. Pregnancy accommodation needs in the workplace are realized by the increasing number of state statutes requiring them, as well as other outcomes. This potential for the ADA to come into play with pregnancy accommodation laws, while beneficial in some ways, further adds to the complicated mix of state law and the PDA.
Another option for protecting pregnant women under the ADA is to pass specific laws at the national level, such as the Pregnancy Adjustment Act. Possible responses for pregnancy adjustment legislation include updating the federal PDA or enacting state laws in all fifty states. State and federal pregnancy accommodation laws must be posted in the main office of the company and given to all employees in the employee handbook.
As companies and their employees in countries with pregnancy accommodation laws give positive feedback, more countries should follow suit (Pisko, 2016). The thesis examines the current state of pregnancy adjustment laws by comparing them and explaining the effects of their language. Twenty-three states and a few cities have enacted pregnancy-friendly laws to combat the problem.
A federal pregnancy shelter law remains unfeasible; therefore, I recommend that all states try to pass a uniform law to provide the best possible protection for women in the workforce.
DISCUSSION AND POLICY RECCOMENDATION
CONCLUSION
Anthony Kennedy stated, “the difficulties pregnant women face in the workplace is and remains an issue of national importance” (Karsten, 2016). Through this comparison of state statutes, differences and similarities are seen and discussed in order to create a model for future legislation that protects the civil rights of all pregnant women in the American workforce. In addition, the current climate of congressional priorities on family issues, pregnancy discrimination in the workplace, and women's career roles are discussed to better understand the entire issue.
Legislation such as the Family and Medical Leave Act, the Pregnancy Discrimination Act, and Title VII of the Civil Rights Act were created and became law in conjunction with women taking on an ever-increasing role in the American workforce. BREAKING: Walmart rolls out new policy for pregnant workers: What you need to know to prevent pregnancy discrimination. Retrieved from https://www.abetterbalance.org/resources/breaking-walmart-enacts-a-new- policy-for-pregnant-workers-what-you-need-to-know-to-stop-pregnancy-discrimination/ #.
Retrieved September 22, 2018, from the National Partnership for Women and Families website: http://www.nationalpartnership.org/research-library/workplace-fairness/pregnancy-discrimination/by-the-numbers-women-continu-to-face - pregnancy discrimination-in-the-workplace.pdf. Retrieved from http://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank for-womens- history-month-a-look-at-gender-gains-and-gaps-in-the-u-s/. Breadwinner Moms, Then and Now." Retrieved from . https://www.governor.ny.gov/news/governor-cuomo-announces-investigation-companies-alleged-pregnancy-discrimination#_blank).
Nadler, Coffman, Casey, Shaheen, Heller Reintroduce Bipartisan Fairness for Pregnant Workers Act to protect pregnant workers from workplace discrimination. Retrieved January 9, 2019, from https://nadler.house.gov/press-release/nadler-coffman-casey-shaheen-heller-reintroduce-bipartisan-pregnant-workers-fairness. Retrieved November 5, 2018, from https://www.eeoc.gov/eeoc/statistics/enforcement/pregnancy_new.cfm Pregnant Workers Fairness Act of 2017, H.R.
