California’s comprehensive employee protection laws support growing families by allowing pregnant women to request reasonable workplace accommodations. The law requires employers with five or more employees to comply with reasonable accommodation requests, provided the accommodation would not cause undue hardship on the business, such as significant financial losses or decreased productivity.
Is Working From Home a Reasonable Accommodation For a Pregnant Employee In California?
The California Fair Employment and Housing Act (FEHA) and the Federal Pregnant Workers Fairness Act require California employers to provide reasonable accommodations upon request by a pregnant employee. A reasonable request ranges from a simple stool for sitting during a task you’d normally stand for, or a modification of job tasks to avoid heavy lifting, to a request to work from home.
Whether a request to work from home as a pregnancy accommodation would be considered reasonable depends on the following:
- Does your employer have five or more full or part-time employees, and have you worked there for 12 or more months?
- Do you have a pregnancy-related medical condition that prevents you from safely working at your place of business?
- Will your doctor sign a certification stating that your pregnancy requires bed rest or otherwise prevents you from working at the office or other place of business?
- Are your work tasks something you can accomplish remotely?
- Will working from home not cause undue hardship for your employer?
If the answers to the above questions are yes, then the employer must allow you to temporarily work from home as a reasonable accommodation.
An accommodation like working from home during a pregnancy-related medical condition may allow a pregnant employee to continue working and earning. However, if the answer is no to one or more of the above questions, the law may not compel your employer to allow you to work remotely. Instead, you may consider taking unpaid Pregnancy Disability Leave.
What Is Pregnancy Disability Leave In California?
Pregnancy Disability Leave, or PDL in California, allows an employee with a pregnancy-related disability to take up to four months of unpaid leave. Pregnancy-related disabilities include such conditions as doctor-ordered bed rest, pre-eclampsia, hyperemesis gravidarum (HG), gestational diabetes, severe edema, anemia, or severe back or pelvic girdle pain. PDL is also available for all pregnant employees during labor and delivery, and the recovery process after giving birth.
Although PDL is unpaid leave, it is also job-protected leave, prohibiting the employer from terminating the worker’s employment and requiring the continuation of their benefits, such as medical insurance coverage, retirement benefits, and seniority.
Many California employees begin their maternity leave with PDL and then follow it with up to 12 weeks of maternity leave under the California Family Rights Act (CFRA).
How Can a California Employment Lawyer Help Me?
If you have a pregnancy-related medical condition or disability and require a workplace accommodation, such as remote work from home, you may need an attorney to defend your rights, especially if your employer has denied your reasonable request for an accommodation or retaliated against you for your request or because of your pregnancy. Call or contact Sparrow Law Group to learn more about your rights and the process of filing a complaint and recovering compensation for your financial losses.