Life can very often intrude into the workplace in ways both expected and unexpected.
The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) has issued several publications about protection of workers in a variety of situations, including that of women becoming (or thinking of becoming) pregnant.
Such a situation is covered by both the American with Disabilities Act (ADA) and the Pregnancy Discrimination Act (PDA).
Under the PDA, an employer is not required to keep a pregnant employee in a job that she would be unable to do or in which she would pose a significant safety risk for others in the workplace. However, an employer may not remove a pregnant employee from her job or place her on leave because managers believe that work would pose a risk to the employee or her pregnancy.
- That said, it should be understood that employers are not allowed to discriminate against a female employee on the following:
- She is pregnant;
- She was pregnant;
- She could become pregnant, or intends to become pregnant;
- She has a medical condition that is related to pregnancy; and,
- She had an abortion, or is considering having an abortion.