In July, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) issued a new Enforcement Guidance on the Pregnancy Discrimination Act that gives more detail in the way the EEOC views pregnancy-related discrimination in the workplace and is the first update since 1983. The US Supreme Court’s upcoming decision in Young v. United Parcel Services, Inc., is scheduled to be heard on December 3rd.
While the Pregnancy Discrimination Act prohibits discrimination based on pregnancy, childbirth, or related medical impairments or conditions, the Guidance expands and describes the obligations imposed on employers. For example, it prohibits employers from discriminating against a female worker because she is planning to become pregnant (even inquiring into an applicant’s intentions about planning a family is a no-no) or is undergoing in-vitro fertilization. Likewise, an employer 
may not require a pregnant worker to take leave as long as she can perform her job.
Rachelle Green and Francesco DeLuca co-authored an article on the “New EEOC Guidance To Avoid Pregnancy Discrimination” which appeared in the Rhode Islands Small Business Journal in November.