News

The case highlights why it is crucial to train your supervisors and front-line managers on their obligations to pregnant and lactating employees.

What about rules requiring employees to cover tattoos or remove facial and/or tongue jewelry during business hours and during patient interactions? We would like our employees to present a very professional appearance and feel like these things don’t reflect that.

A federal court settlement over endometriosis sends a message to employers that they should not ignore accommodation requests involving female reproductive health and its complications.

The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission has issued new guidance in the form of an extensive Q&A for federal agencies. The guidance reinforces the long-held warning that disabled workers may be eligible for telework as a reasonable accommodation, but also helps employers who want to reevaluate telework accommodations.

Not all medical conditions that individuals have are covered disabilities under the law. To count, the individual must have a physical or mental condition that substantially impacts a major life function. That’s the test for whether employers must accommodate.

A staff member wants to take Saturdays off to celebrate Shabbat. We are a 24/7 residential care facility and require staff to work an every-other-weekend rotating schedule. Under religious accommodation, would we be required to change the schedule to allow her Saturdays off, thereby having other staff members that now will have to be scheduled every weekend to cover the open shifts?

Does the PUMP Act support/cover an accommodation in the form of 100% telework for a breastfeeding mother?

I have an employee who wants to take time off to have an IUD removed to prepare for pregnancy. She is under the impression we must provide a reasonable accommodation of time off for a doctor’s appointment. Is that the case?

The Americans with Disabilities Act was passed to allow qualified disabled workers the opportunity to enter the workforce if they can perform the essential functions of their job with or without a reasonable accommodation. But employers shouldn’t assume a disabled applicant can’t perform the job even with an accommodation before they hire the otherwise qualified applicant.

It’s becoming clear that the EEOC intends to use litigation as the preferred tool to enforce the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act until employers understand their obligation to accommodate pregnant workers in a way that preserves earnings whenever possible. To that end, the EEOC just sued U.S. Steel in a case that highlights how not to handle pregnancy at work.