California laws provide the greatest level of job protection and partially paid leave for pregnancy leave of any state in the US. California has the most complete sets of laws protecting women during pregnancy leave.

One law gives California women a needed extra benefit over its federal counterpart. The California Family Rights Act provides significantly longer job protection in the event of pregnancy complications, followed by an extended maternity leave for military persons. Should this situation arise, the extended job protection will be welcome.
Where California Ranks
Employees beginning in a new business must be informed of the California labor laws. This is a must. Understand, the state of California has a reputation of being one of the most stringent employment law enforcers in the US, so they don’t take the subject lightly. Hiring legal counsel might even be a smart idea so you can avoid employer liability and legal claims in the future.

One of the most complex areas of labor laws that you ought to understand is the special leaves. On top of the regular leave policies offered by the federal government, the employment law in California has also enacted a few other types of special leaves that employees can benefit from. It is important that you learn about what these special leaves are to properly address issues of absence in the workplace among your employees, whatever the reason may be.

The general legislation in California is that all businesses with fifty or more employees should provide their workers with two primary leave benefits: the California Family Rights Act or CFRA and the Family and Medical Leave Act or FMLA. To preserve your employment rights and to ensure that your employees get the benefits they deserve, here is a quick guide into the special leaves that your workers are entitled to:

California’s Pregnancy Leave Laws Explored

When one of your employees get pregnant, they are entitled to pregnancy leave. This is a traditional type of leave employed all over the United States but there are special clauses to the implementation of this law in California.

All businesses or companies with at least five employees should provide a maximum of four months leave to all pregnant employees. This leave policy covers intermittent leave for a few days before or after giving birth. During her return to work, it is important that the employee retains the same or nearly the same position as she previously held before availing of her leave.

Know all pregnancy leave laws in California laws and you may just avoid a serious infraction in the future.

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Should this situation arise, the extended job protection will be honored.But can you afford all the time away from work? You can if you plan, then act accordingly.

California Family Rights Act

The California Family Law Act is similar to the Federal Family Leave Act for the care of a child in that it allows twelve weeks of unpaid leave, which is considered a vacation protected by work. Both laws apply only to employers with more than fifty employees.

The law of California is different in how a lack of work for your disability is treated. Suppose you are experiencing pregnancy complications and must leave work twelve weeks before your delivery. By the Federal Law, you will use your protected time from work.

The law of California does not take into account the time from work on your disability. This is considered by the Disability Abatement Act in California.

Seven Months of Pregnancy Leave

You will receive seven months of part-time leave with specified protection: four months before the birth if complications arise, plus six weeks to recover from childbirth, plus six weeks of communication with the child.

The California SDI and Paid Family Leave provide a partial payment of 55% for seven months, if necessary.

Will I Lose My House?

The good news is the laws of California, which protects your work for a long time at a partial payment. If this happens to you, and you are right, will your job still be there for you? Can you make your mortgage payments in seven months with a 45% reduction in wages?

While pregnant, it is important to know that you employer can only change your position and job responsibilities if your pregnancy makes you unable to perform your required duties.

Through the actual maternity leave, your employer is obligated to reimburse you the equivalent amount of what you would receive on short term disability. Upon completion of the 12 weeks, your employer is obligated to restore you to the same pay and the same or equivalent position as your old job.

What Will Determine Your Benefits

In 2002, California led the way to take paid family leave, and other states, such as Massachusetts and New Jersey, take into account the next lawsuit. And not all states allow women to take short-term disability leave to cover childbirth, childbirth and post-natal recovery.

Your employer may have practices that dictate the order in which you can take different types maternity or pregnancy leave. In any case, you will want to start exploring your options as soon as you can. During your pregnancy, make sure that all your documents are ready and assembled before the baby’s arrival.

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As a starting point, one thing should be made very clear: You cannot be discriminated against for being pregnant! You cannot be fired. You cannot be refused employment. You cannot be demoted. You cannot be docked pay.

Unfortunately, it seems to be a fairly common occurrence that once a woman becomes pregnant her formerly nice and reasonable employer treats her differently. Treating a woman differently – unless it’s to say how awesome it is that she’s pregnant is likely to be illegal. In 1978, Congress enacted the Pregnancy Discrimination Act (PDA) as an amendment to Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. In doing so Congress made clear that women were not to be punished for becoming mothers.

The PDA prohibits discrimination in areas and ways, including

-Hiring/Firing: An employer cannot refuse to hire a woman because of her pregnancy or a related condition and cannot fire a woman for those things either.

-Pregnancy and Maternity Leave: An employee: cannot single out pregnant women for special procedures to determine her ability to work; must hold open the job while she is on pregnancy leave; must treat her the same as any temporarily disabled worker if she is unable to perform her duties for a short time; must allow her to work if she is able.

-Health Insurance: Employer-provided health insurance must cover pregnancy and pregnancy-related conditions on the same basis as other medical issues.

-Fringe Benefits: Benefits cannot be given only to married couples. Benefits cannot be provided differently to pregnant and non-pregnant employees. Seniority, vacation, pay, temporary disability benefits, must all be the same as all other employees.

-This list is not all inclusive. See an attorney if you feel as if you have, or are, suffering some sort of mistreatment.

Additionally, the law prevents retaliation for complaining about discrimination either to your employer or to the EEOC. States and local governments may also have laws that are similar to the PDA.

For example, in Illinois, the city of Chicago, Cook County, and the state of Illinois all have laws intended to prevent or remedy pregnancy discrimination. There are also administrative forums at each of these levels devoted to hearing claims of discrimination and providing remedies, including monetary damages.

Women who suffer, or believe that they may have suffered, discrimination need to file a charge of discrimination with the EEOC within 180 days of the date of the last act of discrimination. The various local and state agencies may have different filing times but many mirrors the 180-day filing requirement set by the federal government as well as the types of discrimination considered illegal. Missing the filing date may eliminate the women’s right to sue so careful attention must be paid to the date, or dates, the act of discrimination took place.

As always, it’s best to consult a local attorney about a claim of discrimination but these forums will allow a woman to file her claim without a lawyer and some will investigate the claims using trained personnel.

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While most people are aware that it is illegal to practice racial, political, religious, or gender-based discrimination in the workplace, people often do not realize that there are other forms of discrimination that are outlined in employment laws for the protection of workers. One protection that many individuals are unaware of is the protection of pregnant women from discrimination on the part of their supervisors or employers.

Employers with fifteen or more employees are required by law to give fair and equal treatment to workers who are or become pregnant while working for the company. The pregnancy discrimination protection or laws exist to make sure that workers are not treated unfairly for pregnancy, childbirth, or medical conditions that arise due to the birth of a child. Women who are pregnant should be given the same considerations as other employees and should not be punished or discriminated against because of the pregnancy. Those who face such cases should report them to the authorities for protection.

These laws extend protection to applicants who apply for a position with a company. The owners and managers cannot discriminate against a pregnant applicant and should give fair consideration to her condition and her qualifications. Such laws also protect the applicant from discrimination based on the managers, supervisors, and other employees’ prejudices.

Current employees who become pregnant should be afforded considerations for their condition and should be allowed to work as long as they feel that they are able to perform duties of the job. If a pregnant employee is unable to perform functions of her normal job, the employer should treat the condition in the same manner that they do temporary disabilities and may give the employee different duties for a short time.

When a worker takes maternity leave, the employer should hold the position for the same length of time that they would for employees who are on sick leave or disability, and should not seek to replace the worker simply because she is on leave for pregnancy. If it is found that the employer treated the pregnant employee in an unfair manner, there may be serious legal consequences for the actions of supervisors and managers.

Summary

If an employer discriminates against pregnant employees or fails to provide fair treatment in the event of pregnancy, the individual involved may be able to pursue legal action against the company in question. The employment or labor laws across the country prohibit pregnancy discrimination and clearly stipulates what the legal actions should be taken against the employer.

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As an employee, you must know the rights during pregnancy in the workplace. However, when you are able to answer these questions, you will know what to during your pregnancy. Here is an overview of laws protecting pregnancy in the workplace:

In the US under both federal and State law, it is always illegal for any employer to discriminate against job applicants or employees based on childbirth, pregnancy, or any other related medical conditions. During the process of employment, hiring or compensation, employers should never discriminate any employee. Under State law, employers should never force any pregnant employee to take a leave of pregnancy disability or absence, which she hasn’t requested.

In any case this happens, employers should provide workplace accommodations as well as job-protected leave due to childbirth, pregnancy, or any other related medical conditions. This will always give them the freedom to make a choice on the day and time when the employees wants to take a leave.

How does these laws apply? 

In case of pregnancy discrimination laws, it always apply only to those workplaces with a given number of employees. According Federal Pregnancy Discrimination Act, it applies to only workplaces with over 15 employees, and employment agencies, training or apprenticeship programs, and numerous labor organizations. For instance, California Fair Employment & Housing Act applies to only workplaces with over 5 employees, as well as all labor organizations, employment agencies, state and local governments. All employees in a given workplace often have same rights whenever they operating in a given city.

Do pregnant mother entitled to leave?

During pregnancy in the workplace, an employee is entitled to job-protection, unpaid leave that goes as high as four months when one is disabled (or unable to perform his or her essential job functions) by childbirth, pregnancy, or related conditions.

What is a mother is unable to continue with a job after pregnancy?

According to the state and federal law, any employer must be able to treat a pregnant employee who may be temporarily unable to do their job descriptions due to pregnancy or have temporary disability. During the process, both employee and employer can negotiate new terms of employment in case of these events.

Is a pregnant employee entitled to leave?

All pregnant employees are covered by the employer during pregnancy period and must take a mandatory leave especially in the 3rd trimester of the pregnancy. In addition, all employees are permitted to work during pregnancy provided she is capable to do her job.

In conclusion, the above is an overview of laws protecting pregnancy in the workplace.

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