YOUR
RIGHTS AND
OBLIGATIONS
AS A PREGNANT
EMPLOYEE
IF YOU ARE PREGNANT, HAVE A
PREGNANCY-RELATED MEDICAL
CONDITION, OR ARE RECOVERING FROM
CHILDBIRTH, PLEASE READ THIS NOTICE.
YOUR EMPLOYER* HAS AN OBLIGATION TO
• Reasonably accommodate your medical needs related to pregnancy,
childbirth, or related conditions (such as temporarily modifying your
work duties, providing you with a stool or chair, or allowing more
frequent breaks);
•
Transfer you to a less strenuous or hazardous position (if one is
available) or duties if medically needed because of your pregnancy;
•
Provide you with pregnancy disability leave (PDL) of up to four months
(the working days you normally would work in one-third of a year or 17
1/3 weeks) and return you to your same job when you are no longer
disabled by your pregnancy or, in certain instances, to a comparable
job. Taking PDL, however, does not protect you from non-leave related
employment actions, such as a layoff;
•
Provide a reasonable amount of break time and use of a room or
other location in close proximity to the employee’s work area to
express breast milk in private as set forth in the Labor Code; and
•
Never discriminate, harass, or retaliate on the basis of pregnancy.
FOR PREGNANCY DISABILITY LEAVE
• PDL is not for an automatic period of time, but for the period of time
that you are disabled by pregnancy, childbirth, or related medical
condition. Your health care provider determines how much time you
will need.
•
Once your employer has been informed that you need to take PDL, your
employer must guarantee in writing that you can return to work in your
same or a comparable position if you request a written guarantee. Your
employer may require you to submit written medical certication from
your health care provider substantiating the need for your leave.
•
PDL may include, but is not limited to, additional or more frequent
breaks, time for prenatal or postnatal medical appointments, and
doctor-ordered bed rest, and covers conditions such as severe
morning sickness, gestational diabetes, pregnancy-induced hyper-
tension, preeclampsia, recovery from childbirth or loss or end of
pregnancy, and/or post-partum depression.
•
PDL does not need to be taken all at once but can be taken on an
as-needed basis as required by your health care provider, including
intermittent leave or a reduced work schedule.
•
Your leave will be paid or unpaid depending on your employer’s policy
for other medical leaves. You may also be eligible for state disability
insurance or Paid Family Leave (PFL), administered by the California
Employment Development Department.
•
At your discretion, you can use any vacation or other paid time off
during your PDL.
•
Your employer may require or you may choose to use any available
sick leave during your PDL.
•
Your employer is required to continue your group health coverage
during your PDL at the same level and under the same conditions
that coverage would have been provided if you had continued in
employment continuously for the duration of your leave.
•
Taking PDL may impact certain of your benets and your seniority
date; please contact your employer for details.
NOTICE OBLIGATIONS AS AN EMPLOYEE
• Give your employer reasonable notice. To receive
reasonable accommodation, obtain a transfer, or take
PDL, you must give your employer sufcient notice for
your employer to make appropriate plans. Sufcient
notice means 30 days advance notice if the need for
the reasonable accommodation, transfer, or PDL is
foreseeable, or as soon as practicable if the need is an
emergency or unforeseeable.
•
Provide a written medical certication from your health
care provider. Except in a medical emergency where
there is no time to obtain it, your employer may require
you to supply a written medical certication from your
health care provider of the medical need for your
reasonable accommodation, transfer or PDL. If the need
is an emergency or unforeseeable, you must provide
this certication within the time frame your employer
requests, unless it is not practicable for you to do so
under the circumstances despite your diligent, good
faith efforts. Your employer must provide at least 15
calendar days for you to submit the certication. See if
your employer has a copy of a medical certication form
to give to your health care provider to complete.
•
Please note that if you fail to give your employer
reasonable advance notice or, if your employer
requires it, written medical certication of your medical
need, your employer may be justied in delaying your
reasonable accommodation, transfer, or PDL.
ADDITIONAL LEAVE UNDER THE
CALIFORNIA FAMILY RIGHTS ACT (CFRA)
Under the California Family Rights Act (CFRA), if you have
more than 12 months of service with an employer, and have
worked at least 1,250 hours in the 12-month period before
the date you want to begin your leave, you may have a right
to a family care or medical leave (CFRA leave). This leave may
be up to 12 workweeks in a 12-month period for the birth,
adoption, or foster care placement of your child**, or for your
own serious health condition or that of your child, parent***,
spouse, domestic partner, grandparent, grandchild, sibling,
or someone else related by blood or in family-like relationship
with the employee (“designated person”). Employers may
pay their employees while taking CFRA leave, but employers
are not required to do so, unless the employee is taking
accrued paid time-off while on CFRA leave. Employees taking
CFRA leave may be eligible for benets administered by
Employment Development Department.
TO FILE A COMPLAINT
Civil Rights Department
calcivilrights.ca.gov/complaintprocess
Toll Free: 800.884.1684 / TTY: 800.700.2320
California Relay Service (711)
Have a disability that requires a reasonable
accommodation? CRD can assist you with your complaint.
For translations of this guidance, visit:
www.calcivilrights.ca.go
v/posters/required
*PDL, CFRA leave, and anti-discrimination protections apply to employers of 5 or more employees; anti-harassment protections apply to employers of 1 or more.
** “Child” means a biological, adopted, or foster child, a stepchild, a legal ward, or a child of an employee or the employee’s domestic partner, or a person to whom the employee stands in
loco parentis.
*** “Parent” includes a biological, foster, or adoptive parent, a parent-in-law, a stepparent, a legal guardian, or other person who stood in loco parentis to the employee when the employee
was a child.
CRD-E09P-ENG / January 2023
