Tomorrow, the EEOC is expected to publish its final regulations for the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act. They were previewed in a press release earlier this week.
Since nearly every lawfirm is producing their own summary of what are, in my view, fairly straightforward implementation regulations, this post will take a different tact — namely how
Employment discrimination claims are often decided on the merits of the claim. Courts routinely have to answer the question: Did the employer discriminate on the basis of a protected class against an employee in terminating the employment of that individual?
But there’s another class of cases that can resolved on procedural grounds, often times in
In prior posts, I’ve talked about the difficulty for employers in getting a motion for summary judgment granted in state court in discrimination cases.
(Motions for summary judgment are procedural tools that can be used when there are no disputed issues of material fact and therefore the court can decide the case on law
As I’ve previously talked about, two new federal laws protecting pregnant workers and nursing employees are now in effect (with the protections for pregnant workers taking effect on June 27, 2023).
I want to use this post to talk about: the implications for employers in states like Connecticut that already have protections under state law
Twas the day before the night before Christmas
And all thru the law office
Not a creature was stirring
Except the employment lawyers reading the new Congressional Omnibus spending bill and looking for the employment law provisions tucked neatly inside.
In a parting gift for employers and employees, Congress passed a broad spending bill on
As I continue a deeper dive into new Connecticut employment laws, Public Act 21-27 adds three new parameters for the existing requirement that an employer provide a lactation room or other location in the workplace for a mother to express her milk.
Previously, Conn. Gen. Stat. § 31-40w only required that such room or location
Maybe it’s the Delta variant. Or maybe the publicity regarding Walmart and Disney. But over the last two weeks or so, there’s been a renewed interest in whether employers can mandate vaccines in Connecticut.
Indeed, we have been fielding lots of questions from employers (and friends and family) about mandatory vaccination policies. But many of
The laws regarding the protections owed to pregnant employees got far broader a few years back. In fact, the statutory provision prohibiting discrimination against pregnant employees has eleven key items. Rather than tackle them in separate posts, we’ll “super-size” this post to cover it all.
The main law is set forth at Conn. Gen. Stat. Sec. 46a-60(b)(7), though it is to be read in conjunction with the state’s broad anti-discrimination laws.
The key prohibitions state that it shall be a “discriminatory employment practice” for an employer (or the employer’s agent):
(A) To terminate a woman’s employment because of her pregnancy;
(B) to refuse to grant to that employee a reasonable leave of absence for disability resulting from her pregnancy;
(C) to deny to that employee, who is disabled as a result of pregnancy, any compensation to which she is entitled as a result of the accumulation of disability or leave benefits accrued pursuant to plans maintained by the employer;
(D) to fail or refuse to reinstate the employee to her original job or to an equivalent position with equivalent pay and accumulated seniority, retirement, fringe benefits and other service credits upon her signifying her intent to return unless, in the case of a private employer, the employer’s circumstances have so changed as to make it impossible or unreasonable to do so;
(E) to limit, segregate or classify the employee in a way that would deprive her of employment opportunities due to her pregnancy;
(F) to discriminate against an employee or person seeking employment on the basis of her pregnancy in the terms or conditions of her employment;
(G) to fail or refuse to make a reasonable accommodation for an employee or person seeking employment due to her pregnancy, unless the employer can demonstrate that such accommodation would impose an undue hardship on such employer;
Continue Reading Employment Law Checklist Project: The 11 Things You Should Know About Pregnant Employees
Late Friday, the House passed the Paid Family and Medical Leave Act bill that passed the Senate earlier in May. Governor Lamont has indicated that he will sign the measure. As such, big changes are coming, though some of the biggest changes are are still a few years off.
You can review the bill here
Late on Tuesday (April 23, 2019) the CHRO released new Legal Enforcement Guidance on “Pregnancy, Childbirth, or Related Conditions at Work”.
Or you might call it a “Bluepaper” instead – as a “one-pager” on the subject called it.
That one-pager was prepared by the Worker & Immigrant Rights Advocacy Clinic at Yale Law School’s Jerome