Personnel Practices Rhode Island’s Newest Pregnancy Discrimination Law

Rhode Island’s General Assembly recently enacted a new law providing greater protections to pregnant workers.  Signed by Governor Gina Raimondo on June 25, 2015, this new law is intended to “combat pregnancy discrimination, promote public health, and ensure full and equal participation for women in the labor force by requiring employers to provide reasonable accommodations to employees with conditions related to pregnancy, childbirth, or a related condition.”  In enacting this law, which amends Rhode Island’s Fair Employment Practices Act, the General Assembly found that “Current workplace laws are inadequate to protect pregnant women from being forced out or fired when they need a simple, reasonable accommodation in order to stay on the job. Many pregnant women are single mothers or the primary breadwinners for their families; if they lose their jobs then the whole family will suffer. This is not an outcome that families can afford in today’s difficult economy.”  Except as otherwise noted, this law takes effect immediately, and it applies to employers employing four or more individuals.

Under this new law, it is now considered an unlawful employment practice for an employer:

1. To refuse to reasonably accommodate an employee’s or prospective employee’s condition related to pregnancy, childbirth, or a related medical condition, including, but not limited to, the need to express breast milk for a nursing child, if she so requests, unless the employer can demonstrate that the accommodation would pose an undue hardship on the employer’s program, enterprise, or business
2. To require an employee to take leave if another reasonable accommodation can be provided to an employee’s condition related to the pregnancy, childbirth, or a related medical condition
3. To deny employment opportunities to an employee or prospective employee, if such denial is based on the refusal of the employer to reasonably accommodate an employee’s or prospective employee’s condition related to pregnancy, childbirth, or a related medical condition
4. To fail to provide written notice, including notice conspicuously posted at an employer’s place of business in an area accessible to employees, of the right to be free from discrimination in relation to pregnancy, childbirth and related conditions, including the right to reasonable accommodations for conditions related to pregnancy, childbirth or related conditions pursuant to this section…”

Employers must provide such notices to new employees upon the commencement of their employment, current employees by October 23, 2015, and any employee who notifies the employer of her pregnancy within ten days of such notification.

In addition, the new law declares it unlawful for any person to obstruct or prevent anyone from complying with the provisions of the law.

In order to comply with the new law, employers must provide reasonable accommodations upon an employee’s request, which the General Assembly defined to include: “more frequent or longer breaks, time off to recover from childbirth, acquisition or modification of equipment, seating, temporary transfer to a less strenuous or hazardous position, job restructuring, light duty, break time and private non-bathroom space for expressing breast milk, assistance with manual labor, or modified work schedules.”

Although the law provides an exception where the accommodations would pose an “undue hardship,” meaning an action requiring significant difficulty or expense, the burden is on the employer to prove that an undue hardship exists.  Factors considered in determining whether an undue hardship exists include the overall financial resources of the employer; the overall size of the business of the employer with respect to the number of employees, and the number, type, and location of its facilities.

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