Early in 2014, New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie signed a bill into law to ban pregnancy discrimination in the workplace. The law requires employers in the state to provide their pregnant employees with accommodations upon request, as long as the accommodations do not impose undue hardships on business operations.

It might seem commonsensical that a business should allow pregnant workers to keep water with them on-the-job and to be temporarily reprieved from heavy lifting, but a number of employers routinely deny these things to pregnant employees. New Jersey employers are now clearly required by law to provide workers with reasonable pregnancy-related accommodations, such as water and bathroom breaks, and a restructuring of duties involving manual labor, among other things.

Pregnancy discrimination has actually been outlawed nationwide since 1978, when the federal Pregnancy Discrimination Act was passed. However, pregnancy discrimination is still a common problem in a number of workplaces. A recent study found that 40 percent of sex discrimination cases in Ohio involved pregnant women. The researchers found that many pregnant women are being forced out of their jobs under the guise of being poor performers or negatively affecting business needs.

It is certainly an untrue stereotype that pregnant women are by nature undependable or costly employees. In some cases, there may be points in time when pregnant workers need sensible accommodations or become temporarily unable to perform certain duties, but this should not put their employment in jeopardy.

Pregnant employees should not be pushed out of their jobs and they should not be forced to work in conditions that are unsafe. Those who have experienced pregnancy discrimination in New Jersey, including those who have been retaliated against for requesting accommodations, may benefit from talking to an employment law attorney about protecting their rights.

Source: Consumer Affairs, “Study: pregnant employees still subject to discrimination,” Mark Huffman, Feb. 26, 2014