Pregnancy Now a Protected Category in New Jersey
Author: Beth P. Zoller, XpertHR Legal Editor
January 22, 2014
Under a new law effective January 21, pregnancy is now included as a protected category under the New Jersey Law Against Discrimination (NJLAD). This means New Jersey employers may not treat female employees affected by pregnancy or childbirth less favorably than other employees who are similar in their ability or inability to work. It also means that New Jersey employers must honor pregnant employees' requests for reasonable accommodations, if made upon their doctors' advice.
The new law defines reasonable accommodations as including:
- Bathroom breaks;
- Water breaks;
- Rest breaks;
- Assistance with manual labor;
- Job restructuring or modified work schedules; and
- Temporary transfers to less strenuous or hazardous work.
Employers, however, are not required to provide such accommodations if doing so would create an undue hardship. The new law includes the following factors to be considered in determining whether a requested accommodation amounts to an undue hardship:
- The overall number of employees;
- The nature and the cost of the accommodation;
- The extent to which the accommodation would require the employer to waive an essential requirement of the job.
The new law also prohibits employers from penalizing employees affected by pregnancy who request accommodations as to the terms, conditions, or privileges of their employment.
Although the NJLAD already prohibits disability discrimination and requires employers to provide reasonable accommodations to employees with disabilities, the new law requires employers to accommodate pregnant employees based solely on their pregnancy. Pregnant women do not need to establish that they are disabled by their pregnancy or pregnancy-related conditions.
Similar laws are in effect only in Maryland and New York City. A recent effort to push a similar federal law through Congress has not been successful.