Do I Need to Tell My Employer If I Am or Plan to Become Pregnant?
Many job applicants and employees throughout South Florida worry about how plans to become pregnant, or a current pregnancy, might impact their employment situation. Indeed, for many job applicants and employees, it feels important to hide pregnancy plans or a current pregnancy from an employer in order to prevent discrimination or retaliation. Yet for many pregnant employees, pregnancy complications can require disability accommodations under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), and most employees need some time off and will need to request leave under the Family and Medical Leave (FMLA) due to childbirth. If you do expect to need a reasonable accommodation or leave time, do you need to tell your employer if you are currently pregnant or plan to become pregnant?
In short, the answer is no. Our Palm Beach Gardens pregnancy discrimination lawyers can tell you more about your rights and state and federal law.
State and Federal Laws Prohibiting Pregnancy Discrimination
Job applicants and employees have protections against pregnancy discrimination under state and federal law. Under state law in the Palm Beach Gardens area, job applicants and employees have protections under the Florida Civil Rights Act (FCRA). Under federal law, job applicants and employees have protections under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. This law includes protections against discrimination on the basis of sex, which includes pregnancy (the federal Pregnancy Discrimination Act of 1978 amended Title VII to prohibit sex discrimination on the basis of pregnancy).
In order for a job applicant or an employee to file a claim under one of these laws, the employer must have 15 or more employees to be considered a “covered” employer under state or federal law.
Protections Against Pregnancy Discrimination
Pregnancy discrimination does not only include adverse treatment of a job applicant or an employee because of a current pregnancy. Legal protections include those against pregnancy discrimination on the basis of a current, past, or even a potential pregnancy, as well as a medical condition relating to pregnancy or childbirth, having an abortion, choosing not to have an abortion, and/or use of contraception.
These protections also ensure that job applicants and employees do not have to disclose information about their current, past, or potential pregnancy (or any of the additional protections) to an employer. Moreover, employers cannot legally ask a job applicant or employee if they are currently pregnant or if they have plans to become pregnant — since employers cannot use any pregnancy-related information for purposes of making employment-related decisions as long as a job applicant or employee is qualified and able to perform the job or role, employers cannot seek this information.
Contact Our Palm Beach Gardens Pregnancy Discrimination Lawyer
Were you denied a job, a promotion, or otherwise treated unfairly at work because of your plans to become pregnant or because of your current pregnancy? One of the experienced Palm Beach Gardens pregnancy discrimination attorneys at Sconzo Law Office is here to assist you. No job applicant or employee should ever have to worry that they will be treated differently because they have the ability to become pregnant, plan to become pregnant, or are currently pregnant. Our firm is here to make sure that employers in South Florida comply with state and federal discrimination laws, and when a job applicant or an employee faces unlawful discrimination, we can help to file a claim in order to seek a remedy and to hold the employer accountable. Contact us today to get started on your case.
Sources:
leg.state.fl.us/statutes/index.cfm?App_mode=Display_Statute&URL=0700-0799/0760/Sections/0760.01.html
eeoc.gov/statutes/pregnancy-discrimination-act-1978
eeoc.gov/pregnancy-discrimination
