Maternity

Meanwhile, another court has blocked “elective abortion” accommodations under the PWFA regulations

June 18, 2024 | by Eric B. Meyer

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On Friday, a federal judge in Arkansas dismissed a lawsuit that 17 states had filed challenging aspects of the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission’s final rule to implement the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act (PWFA) — specifically the part that deals with “elective abortions.”

Yesterday, another federal judge in Louisiana enjoined the EEOC from requiring employers in Louisiana and Mississippi to accommodate elective abortions, i.e., an abortion prompted exclusively by the woman’s choice, where no physical or mental condition related to, affected by, or arising out of pregnancy, childbirth, or related medical conditions exists. Continue reading

Court denies 17 states’ challenge to abortion leave under the EEOC’s pregnancy regulations

June 17, 2024 | by Eric B. Meyer

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On Friday, a federal judge in Arkansas dismissed a lawsuit that 17 states had filed challenging aspects of the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission‘s final rule to implement the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act (PWFA) — specifically the part that deals with “elective abortions.” Continue reading

Join us today at Noon ET for The Employer Handbook Zoom Happy Hour to discuss the EEOC’s Pregnant Workers Fairness Act Final Rule

April 19, 2024 | by Eric B. Meyer

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You can still register here to join us today, April 19, 2024, at Noon ET. Along with my partner, Amy Epstein Gluck, I will discuss the final rule that the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), the federal agency tasked with enforcing the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act (PWFA), released earlier this week.

Among the topics we’ll cover: Continue reading

The EEOC has issued its final rules on the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act. So, let’s Zoom on Friday, April 19, 2024 at Noon ET.

April 16, 2024 | by Eric B. Meyer

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At long last, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), the federal agency tasked with enforcing the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act (PWFA), has issued a final rule to implement the new law. Continue reading

Here’s how the feds will enforce pump at work protections for nursing workers

May 22, 2023 | by Eric B. Meyer

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For over a decade, federal law has required most employers to provide a nursing mother with reasonable break time to express breast milk after the birth of her child for up to one year after childbirth. Last December, the PUMP for Nursing Mothers Act became law. The PUMP Act provides additional workplace protections for employees who need to express breast milk, creating protections for an estimated nine million more employees.

Last week, the Wage and Hour Division published, Enforcement of Protections for Employees to Pump Breast Milk at Work, to help Department of Labor field staff enforce the law. This blog post is your movie trailer version of this latest publication.

Your company’s generous parental leave benefits could actually trigger a discrimination lawsuit

September 5, 2017 | by Eric B. Meyer

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Just before the Labor Day weekend, I blogged here about an Americans with Disabilities Act complaint filed in federal court by the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission that should have employers scrutinizing their leave policies and procedures.

Today, I’ve got news of another EEOC lawsuit filed in my backyard in the Eastern District of Pennsylvania. As I explain below, this one will have you reaching for a different leave policy — parental leave — to ensure no that there’s no hatin’ on the fellas. Continue reading

SHRM Study shows that we are inching towards a better work-life balance.

March 10, 2017 | by Eric B. Meyer

So, I’m diligently preparing and honing my delivery ***fart*** for my FMLA/ADA presentation this Tuesday at SHRM’s 2017 Employment Law and Legislative Conference in Washington, DC, when, what do I see? It’s a new SHRM study on “employer practices, policies, programs and benefits that address personal and family needs of employees.”

Seems topical with all these rumblings of paid leave coming from the White House.

A new SHRM study should have employers reexamining their policies on parental leave

October 11, 2016 | by Eric B. Meyer

On average, organizations gave mothers 41 paid days of maternity leave, compared with 22 paid days of paternity leave for fathers. That statistic comes from 2016 Paid Leave in the Workplace, a survey recently conducted by the Society for Human Resource Management.

Does this disparity demonstrate discrimination against men?

New Philadelphia law requires accommodations for pregnant employees

February 10, 2014 | by Eric B. Meyer

Late last month, Philadelphia Mayor Michael Nutter signed this bill, which requires reasonable workplace accommodations for employees who have needs related to pregnancy, childbirth, or a related medical condition.

As noted in this prior post about Philadelphia’s new law, reasonable accommodations would include, but are not limited to, restroom breaks, periodic rest for those who stand for long periods of time, assistance with manual labor, leave for a period of disability arising from childbirth, reassignment to a vacant position, and job restructuring.

An employer can avoid having to provide a workplace accommodation, but will have the burden of proving “undue hardship.” The “undue hardship” factors generally mirror those found in the Americans with Disabilities Act and revolve around the cost of the accommodation and the employer’s overall financial resources.

An employer blueprint for how to screw up at-will employment

July 1, 2011 | by Eric B. Meyer

In most states, absent a contract of employment, an employee is considered at-will (i.e., he or she can be fired for any reason or no reason at all). Many employers reinforce — in very prominent locations in employee handbooks — that their employees are at-will.

What happens, however, when an employer later promises an employee that she can take 12 months of leave and then return to her job?

Can the employer later renege and rely upon the at-will employment doctrine as a basis not to reinstate? Or is the employer SOL? Find out, after the jump…

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