Pregnancy Discrimination

To some extent, California State Law protects phases of mothering, from pregnancy to nursing.

Discrimination at work based on pregnancy is illegal under both Federal Law and California State Law (California Fair Employment and Housing Act).

Discrimination based on pregnancy; childbirth or related medical conditions is also illegal.

Discrimination based upon the potential of becoming pregnant is illegal.

When an expectant mother has to take off from work for medical reasons related to her pregnancy or childbirth, she is usually entitled to some kind of paid pregnancy-disability coverage. Most employers are part of California's State Disability Insurance (SDI) system, but some are not. Some employers provide disability coverage through another plan, and some employers provide additional coverage.

SDI benefits are available to most working women who are temporarily disabled by pregnancy. The period of coverage depends on the length of time the doctor certifies that she is disabled.

Women who work for large corporations often collect SDI during the 8 to 12 week they are disabled by pregnancy and childbirth, and after the time has elapsed, they may take additional unpaid leave under the California Family Rights Act which runs concurrently with the Federal Family Medical Leave Act.



Lactation Accommodation

Under California Labor Codes every employer shall provide a reasonable amount of break time to accommodate an employee desiring to express breast milk concurrently with any break time already provided to the employee. In addition, the employer must make available the use of a room or other location, other than a toilet stall, in close proximity to the employee's work area, for the employee to express milk in private.


Family and Medical Leave

The California Family Rights Act requires private and public employers with 50 or more employees in a 75-mile radius to grant an unpaid family leave of up to 12 weeks annually to eligible employees.

To be eligible to take such leave the employee must have worked for the employer for at least one year and must have worked for at least 1,250 hours during the leave before the leave.
Most employees confuse pregnancy-disability leave and family leave. These are two different laws with different eligibility requirements. However, there are times they may run together after the birth of the child.