May 24, 2017

Reps. Rutigliano & Devlin Back Bill to Protect Pregnant Women in the Workforce

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HARTFORD- State Reps. David Rutigliano (R-123) and Laura Devlin (R-134) strongly supported a bi-partisan proposal in the House of Representatives which strengthens employment protections provided to pregnant women.

State Rep. David Rutigliano worked with the Chair of the Labor Committee to craft a bipartisan compromise which protects women while still not creating an undue hardship for employers.

“Providing a reasonable accommodation for a pregnant employee or job applicant is common sense and good for business. Certain accommodations can benefit employers by improving workplace safety, recruitment and retention of good employees, increased productivity, reduced absenteeism, and increased employee commitments,” said Rep. Rutigliano.

The legislation, HB-6668, An Act Concerning Pregnant Women in the Workplace, requires employers to provide a reasonable workplace accommodation for a pregnant employee or applicant, unless the employer demonstrates that the accommodation would be an undue hardship.

The bill also prohibits employers from (1) limiting, segregating, or classifying an employee in a way that would deprive her of employment opportunities due to her pregnancy or (2) forcing a pregnant employee or applicant to accept a reasonable accommodation if she does not need one. It also eliminates certain employment protection provisions related to transfers to temporary positions for pregnant workers.

“This bill will protect both the health of women’s pregnancies and their financial stability by ensuring they can obtain reasonable accommodations in the workplace. No woman in this state should have to choose between their job and having a child,” said Rep. Devlin.

Under the bill, “reasonable accommodations” include:

Being allowed to sit while working
More frequent or longer breaks
Periodic rest
Assistance with manual labor
Job restructuring
Light duty assignments
Modified work schedules
Temporary transfers to less strenuous or less hazardous work
Time off to recover from childbirth
Break time and appropriate facilities for expressing breast milk

By law, an employer must make reasonable efforts to provide a private room for an employee to express breast milk or breastfeed.

According to testimony by the Connecticut Commission on Human Rights and Opportunities given in the Labor and Public Employee during the public hearing there were more than 70 complaints of pregnancy discrimination last year.