Pregnancy should never cost someone their livelihood, yet many workers still worry that it might. In Michigan, both state and federal laws protect pregnant employees from unfair treatment. Major new federal regulations that took effect in 2024 provide employees with more rights than ever before.
How does Michigan’s ELCRA protect pregnant employees?
Michigan’s Elliott-Larsen Civil Rights Act (ELCRA) bars employers from firing or mistreating someone because they are pregnant. The law treats pregnancy discrimination as a form of sex discrimination. As a result, employers cannot base job decisions on assumptions about ability, safety or future leave needs. The ELCRA also requires equal treatment. If an employer offers light duty or modified work to other employees with physical needs, it must offer the same flexibility to pregnant workers.
How the federal Pregnant Workers Fairness Act expands protections
The federal Pregnant Workers Fairness Act (PWFA) adds even broader protections for people who are pregnant at work. On April 15, 2024, the EEOC issued final regulations that took effect June 18, 2024. These rules dramatically expand the accommodations employers must provide during and after pregnancy. Under the PWFA, employers must offer reasonable workplace accommodations to workers who are pregnant. The new regulations define these terms broadly and require flexibility in many situations.
Examples of required accommodations for pregnant workers
The PWFA lists many types of reasonable accommodations. Some go far beyond what employers previously expected to provide. Common examples include:
- Extra or longer breaks to eat, rest or drink water
- Permission to carry food or water
- Modified workstations or seating options
- Schedule changes or later start times
- Temporary reassignment
- Leave for medical appointments
- Light duty or help with lifting
- Time off to recover from childbirth
Additionally, the rule allows temporary suspension of an essential job function if the employee can perform that function again in the near future.
Limits on the documents an employer can request to justify the job modifications
Now that the new regulations are in place, employers must also follow strict limits on documentation requests. The rule forbids requests for medical proof when:
- The need for accommodation is obvious
- The employer already has enough information
- The worker seeks one of four “predictable assessments” like extra bathroom breaks
- The worker is lactating and needs time or space to pump
- The accommodation is one offered to other employees
These limits prevent employers from imposing unnecessary hurdles.
Overall, Michigan employers cannot fire a pregnant worker for pregnancy or related conditions and pregnant workers have rights at work to accommodations during pregnancy and after birth. With both the Michigan state law and the expanded federal regulations, pregnant employees have stronger protections and clearer rights than ever.
