EMPLOYMENT LAW: BENCHMARK PRACTICES

EEOC Updated Enforcement Guidance on Pregnancy Discrimination

If you are an employer with 15 or more employees you may wish to update your human resources materials with the July 14, 2014 updated EEOC Enforcement Guidance on Pregnancy Discrimination (PDA) and Related Issues. This is the first update since 1983.The guidance incorporates significant developments in the law over the past 30 years.

The guidance also discusses a link between the PDA and the ADA. Pregnant women who have disabilities that are caused by the pregnancy are also entitled to protection under the ADA in the EEOC’s view. Basically, if the disability qualifies under the ADA an employer must treat a pregnant woman the same as it would a non-pregnant disabled person under the ADA.

“Same treatment” means that pregnant employees are entitled to light duty work if the employer provides light duty work to other employees. If your handbook limits light duty work to those employees injured on the job, it may be inconsistent with the EEOC’s new enforcement policy. A review by your human resources department or your counsel may be a sound idea.

The Supreme Court will be hearing Young v. United Parcel Service, Inc. The issue is whether the history and Congressional Intent of the Pregnancy Discrimination Act requires employers to treat pregnant women the same as other temporarily disabled workers.

Peggy Young is a driver for United Parcel Service, Inc. (UPS). When she was pregnant her doctor recommended that she not lift more than 20 lbs. She had asked UPS for a “light duty” assignment but UPS denied her request, even though it had a practice of giving light duty assignments to other employees who were temporarily unable to perform their jobs. As a result of UPS’s denial, Young was forced to take unpaid leave and lost her medical coverage for the period during which she gave birth, until she was able to return to work at UPS two months later.

The district court ruled that UPS did not discriminate against Young in violation of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 (Title VII), 42 U.S.C. §2000e et seq., as amended by the Pregnancy Discrimination Act of 1978 (PDA), Pub. L. No. 95-555, 92 Stat. 2076, codified at 42 U.S.C. § 2000e(k) (2006), because its policy is based on “gender-neutral,” “pregnancy-blind” criteria, such as whether an employee was injured on the job or off the job.

Young argues that through the PDA, Congress requires employers to treat pregnant women the same as other temporarily disabled workers—those covered under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). Watch for the Supreme Court’s decision in Young but in the meantime the EEOC’s Enforcement Guidance of the PDA sets Benchmark Practices and is a good resource for employers and employees alike.

BENCHMARK PRACTICES:

• THE PDA COVERS NOT ONLY CURRENT PREGNANCY, BUT DISCRIMINATION BASED ON PAST PREGNANCY AND A WOMAN’S POTENTIAL TO BECOME PREGNANT;
• LACTATION AS A COVERED PREGNANCY-RELATED MEDICAL CONDITION;
• ISSUES RELATED TO LEAVE FOR PREGNANCY AND FOR MEDICAL CONDITIONS RELATED TO PREGNANCY;
• PDA PROHIBITS REQUIRING PREGNANT WORKERS WHO AE ABLE TO DO THEIR JOBS TAKE LEAVE;
• PARENTAL LEAVE (WHICH IS DISTINCT FROM MEDICAL LEAVE ASSOCIATED WITH CHILDBIRTH) MUST BE PROVIDED TO SIMILARLY SITUATED MEN AND WOMEN ON THE SAME TERMS;
• EMPLOYERS MAY HAVE TO PROVIDE REASONABLE ACCOMMODATIONS FOR WORKERS WITH PREGNANCY-RELATED IMPAIRMENTS UNDER THE ADA.

Should you have a question about the PDA or the new enforcement guidelines please call.