{"id":105,"date":"2018-02-12T21:08:05","date_gmt":"2018-02-12T21:08:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.sherin.com\/employment-blog\/?p=105"},"modified":"2021-06-10T19:17:08","modified_gmt":"2021-06-10T19:17:08","slug":"mcad-issues-guidance-on-the-pregnant-worker-fairness-act","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.sherin.com\/employment-blog\/2018\/02\/12\/mcad-issues-guidance-on-the-pregnant-worker-fairness-act\/","title":{"rendered":"MCAD Issues Guidance on the Pregnant Worker Fairness Act"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Pregnant Workers Fairness Act becomes effective on April 1, 2018 and will be enforced by the Massachusetts Commission Against Discrimination.\u00a0 In anticipation, the Commission has issued a short Guidance that is available here<\/a>, on Mass.gov.\u00a0 As highlighted in the Guidance, the Act expressly prohibits employment discrimination on the basis of pregnancy and pregnancy-related conditions, such lactation or the need to express breast milk.\u00a0 Generally, employers may not treat employees – or job applicants – less favorably than other employees are treated based on pregnancy or pregnancy-related conditions.<\/p>\n

The Act provides pregnant women and new mothers with a right to reasonable accommodations from their employers for pregnancy and pregnancy-related conditions whether or not<\/strong> they have a “handicap” as defined by law. \u00a0Employers cannot require medical documentation to support requests for accommodations regarding: (i) more frequent restroom, food or water breaks; (ii) seating; (iii) limits on lifting no more than 20 pounds; and (iv) private, non-bathroom space for expressing breast milk. An employer, may, however, request medical documentation for other requested accommodations.<\/p>\n

The Act itself is available here<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Pregnant Workers Fairness Act becomes effective on April 1, 2018 and will be enforced by the Massachusetts Commission Against Discrimination.\u00a0 In anticipation, the Commission has issued a short Guidance that is available here, on Mass.gov.\u00a0 As highlighted in the Guidance, the Act expressly prohibits employment discrimination on the basis of pregnancy and pregnancy-related conditions, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":9,"featured_media":110,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[85,83],"tags":[61],"class_list":["post-105","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-discrimination","category-updates-in-employment-law","tag-mcad"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nMCAD Issues Guidance on the Pregnant Worker Fairness Act - 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