What Accommodations Are Required for Pregnant Employees?

When you learn that you are pregnant, you may be assured that you are still able and willing to work at your job until you plan to go on maternity leave. Even so, you should not shy away from asking your employer to provide extra yet reasonable aid to help you perform your job duties at the same capacity. After all, they may be legally obligated to comply with your special requests. With that being said, please read on to discover the accommodations pregnant employees should be getting and how a seasoned employment discrimination attorney in Gloucester County, NJ, at The Vigilante Law Firm, P.C., can help you feel properly supported during this monumental time in your life.

What accommodations are required for pregnant employees in New Jersey?

According to the New Jersey Law Against Discrimination (LAD), employers are required to grant employees reasonable accommodations during their pregnancy. This is so that an employee may remain productive at work, all while maintaining a safe and healthy pregnancy. An employee’s treating healthcare provider typically offers recommendations for such accommodations. Examples read as follows:

• A pregnant employee should be given additional bathroom, food, water, and rest breaks.
• A pregnant employee should be assisted with lifting heavy items or other manual labor tasks.
• A pregnant employee should be temporarily transferred to a new role with less strenuous or hazardous tasks.
• A pregnant employee should be granted a slight restructuring of job duties that will ensure their health and safety.
• A pregnant employee should be offered remote work or flexible hours to attend necessary doctor’s appointments, etc.

Are employers supposed to provide accommodations for breastfeeding?

The reasonable accommodations presented to an employee should not stop at the end of their pregnancy term. Rather, this should continue as they navigate being a new parent to their newborn. Namely, an employee may hold the right to ask their employer to provide breastfeeding accommodations. Similar to when they were pregnant, an employee should be given additional breaks to focus on breastfeeding. What’s more, if an employee is required to report for their job in person, they should be given a suitable private place to express breast milk. This should be a location other than a standard toilet stall.

The only way in which your employer may deny your accommodation request is if they can effectively prove that doing so would cause an undue hardship. For example, your additional breaks may cause an undue hardship if there are not enough other employees to pick up and help complete your essential job duties while you are away. Or, your need for a private place may not be sustainable if your employer simply does not have the budget to renovate the workplace to incorporate this facility.

In conclusion, if you still have lingering questions at this point in time, please do not hesitate to reach out to one of the competent New Jersey employment lawyers. The team at The Vigilante Law Firm, P.C. will certainly be the perfect fit for you.