Pregnancy/ Pregnancy Loss

Staying healthy at work while you are pregnant is sometimes challenging: you may be dealing with morning sickness, back pain, or doctor’s appointments every few weeks. For women who have suffered a miscarriage, you may have need to take time off for recovery. U.S., North Carolina, and local laws can help you stay healthy at work, give you time off when you need it, and protect you from pregnancy discrimination.

• The Pregnancy Discrimination Act makes it illegal for any employer in the U.S. with 15 or more workers to treat employees unfairly because they are pregnant, trying to get pregnant, or have experienced a pregnancy loss. That means:
  • Your boss can’t fire you or cut your hours when she finds out that you’re pregnant or trying to get pregnant—you have the right to keep working as long as you can still do your job. You also have the right to be free from harassment at work because you are pregnant.
  • You cannot be asked about your pregnancy or plans to have children in a job interview.
  • Your employer can’t treat you differently from other workers just because you are pregnant or have had a miscarriage. The Supreme Court just decided a case where they clarified what this means. The Court said that employers may not put a “significant burden” on pregnant employees. How do you know what’s a significant burden? Start looking around at how your employer treats other non-pregnant employees who have needed an accommodation at work. For example, does your employer have a policy of giving light duty only to those with on-the-job injuries? Or did they have no problem helping out folks with non-pregnancy related disabilities, but sent all the pregnant women out onto unpaid leave? If so, this could be evidence of pregnancy discrimination. Since we are still waiting for further clarification of how this standard works, it’s best to collect all the evidence you can (policies, employee handbooks or manuals, digging around to find out how others have been treated) and to discuss your particular situation with an attorney.
• The North Carolina Equal Employment Practices Act also bans sex discrimination, which may cover pregnancy discrimination, and covers employers with 15 or more employees. However, check with a local lawyer before relying on this law.

If you need changes at work to stay healthy on the job, the laws below can help. In addition, click the green button to learn how to talk with your boss about your pregnancy and request an accommodation if you need one.

• The Americans with Disabilities Act makes it illegal for employers in the U.S. with 15 or more employees to discriminate against disabled workers.  Some pregnancy-related conditions, such as preeclampsia or gestational diabetes, are considered disabilities under the law. This means:
  • Your boss cannot fire you, refuse to give you a promotion, or harass you because you have a pregnancy-related disability.
  • If you have a pregnancy-related disability, your boss cannot refuse to give you small changes at work that you need to stay healthy, like breaks to take medication, temporary relief from heavy lifting, or a stool to sit on during your shift. These changes are called “reasonable accommodations” and are available as long as you can still complete the basic duties of your job with those changes. Your boss does not have to give you an accommodation that would be very difficult or expensive, like building a whole new office.
  • Although pregnancy, by itself, is not considered a “disability,” some conditions of pregnancy may be disabilities so check with a lawyer to see whether you have a right to an accommodation at work.
• All state agency employees have a legal right to workplace adjustments for pregnancy, childbirth, or related medical conditions in order to perform the essential functions of their job unless it would case an undue hardship on the employer.
  • Workplace adjustments may include, but are not limited to, a change in workstation and seating equipment, and/or relocation of workplace materials and equipment to make them more accessible, more frequent and/or longer breaks, periodic rest, assistance with manual labor, modified work schedules, including the option to work from home, modified work assignment, adjustment of uniforms or dress codes, provision of properly sized safety gear, temporary transfer, reasonable break time and access to appropriate, non-bathroom lactation accommodations for rest and/or to express breast milk, access to food and drink and permitting meals and beverages at workstation, changes in lighting and noise levels, and closer parking and/or access to mobile assistance devices. State agencies may require employees to obtain documentation from a healthcare provider certifying the need for workplace adjustments.
  • For more information, click here.
• The North Carolina Equal Employment Practices Act also bans disability discrimination, and covers employers with 15 or more employees. However, check with a local lawyer before relying on this law.
• If you are covered by the Family and Medical Leave Act, you have the right to take time off during pregnancy or after experiencing a miscarriage without losing your job. See the “Leaving Work for Childbirth and Bonding” section under the next tab for more information or see this guide to your workplace rights around miscarriage.

Leaving Work for Childbirth & Bonding

The U.S. is one of the only countries in the world with no law guaranteeing women the right to paid leave for childbirth. However, you may have the right to take unpaid leave for childbirth and return to your job.

If you are a part-time or full-time state employee and have worked for a North Carolina department, agency, board, or commission under the oversight of the Governor for at least one year, you may be entitled to paid parental leave.

If you have given birth, you can take up to 8 weeks of paid parental leave to bond and care for your child and receive 100 percent of your regular pay. If your partner has given birth or if you have a newly adopted, fostered, or legally placed child, you may take up to 4 weeks of paid parental leave to bond with and care for a child and receive 100 percent of your regular pay. Paid parental leave may be used within 12 months of the birth, adoption, foster, and other legal placement of a child. You may use paid parental leave continuously or intermittently, with prior approval from your agency.

If you are a part-time employee, you may receive paid parental leave at a pro-rated basis.

If you are a teacher, community college and university employee, or other Council of State agency employee, you are not covered by the Executive Order. For more information click here.

The law may protect your job while you are taking leave after childbirth or adoption.

• If you are covered, the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) allows you to take up to 12 weeks of unpaid time off of work per year for a family health emergency or to take care of a new baby— without losing your job (or your health insurance, if you have it).
  • Only about half of all private sector workers in the U.S. are covered by the law! You must 1) work for the government or a company with 50 or more employees within 75 miles of your worksite and 2) have worked with your employer for at least 1 year and 3) have worked at least 1,250 hours in the year before taking leave.
  • If you are covered, you can use the 12 weeks to care for your own health (including pregnancy), to care for a new child after birth, adoption, or foster placement, or to care for a seriously ill family member. Remember that you only get 12 weeks a year in total—if you take time off before you give birth for your own health needs, you’ll have less time afterward to spend with your baby.
  • Before giving birth, you may use your leave an hour or day at a time—such as by taking a day off per week to go to the doctor— rather than all at once. Your employer must approve, however, if you want to use leave time in smaller chunks to bond with your baby.
  • While you are on leave, you have the right to keep your benefits. When you return to work, you have the right to return to the same or a similar job.
  • If you are in the top 10% of highest-paid workers in your company, different rules apply.
• If your boss treats workers who take time off for childbirth differently from workers who take time off for other medical treatments (for example, she gives most workers 2 weeks off for surgery but only 1 week for childbirth), this could be illegal under the national Pregnancy Discrimination Act. Call A Better Balance if you think you are being treated unfairly.

Returning to Work: Recovery, Nursing, and Sick Time

When you return to work as a new parent, you may still need a few extra breaks to pump breastmilk or time off to care for your baby when he’s sick. There are a few laws that can help you get back to work safely and still care for your family.

• If you are disabled for a period of time after childbirth, the Americans with Disabilities Act and state disability laws, discussed in the “While You’re Pregnant” tab, may apply.
  • If so, you may be able to get an accommodation at work, such as light duty, while you recover.

• The Affordable Care Act (“Obamacare”) gives some U.S. workers the right to take unpaid breaks at work to pump milk, and requires some employers to find a clean, private place that’s not a bathroom for employees to pump milk. This law only applies to workers and employers who are covered by the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA)— the law that sets minimum wage and overtime requirements.
• It may be illegal under the Pregnancy Discrimination Act for your boss to punish or discriminate against you because you are lactating.
• Under North Carolina law, you have the right to Breastfeed Your Child in any public or private location.
• For more information about your nursing rights, click here.

As a new parent, you may face discrimination at work or have problems taking time off when you or your baby is sick. These laws can help you balance your job and caring for your family.

• If you are covered by the FMLA, you have the right to take time off to care for a seriously ill family member. See the “Leaving Work” tab for more information on this law.
• If you are a parent or guardian of a school-age child, you are entitled to Leave for Parental Involvement in Schools. Your employer must allow you to take up to 4 hours per year of unpaid leave to attend or otherwise be involved in your child’s school. Your employer can’t fire or punish you for requesting or taking the leave.
• The Americans with Disabilities Act also bans unfair treatment of workers based on their relationship with a disabled person. For example, your boss can’t cut your hours because he thinks you can’t work as hard because you have a child with asthma. However this law does not give relatives of a disabled person the right to accommodations, such as a schedule change, to help them provide care.