Yesterday was the deadline for Colorado employers to inform their current employees about their rights under Colorado’s Pregnant Workers Fairness Act, a law that passed back in August. Employers had to provide written notice of the law to all current employees by yesterday, December 8, 2016 and, in the future, must continue to provide notice to all new employees.
Colorado is now the 18th State requiring employers to provide reasonable accommodations to pregnant workers and workers recovering from childbirth or related conditions, unless doing so would be very difficult or expensive. Even if you have a healthy or uncomplicated pregnancy, you can still receive a reasonable accommodation under the law.
Reasonable accommodations can include anything from taking longer or more frequent bathroom or food breaks to requesting a more comfortable chair to asking for a less strenuous or hazardous position if the employer has one available. Making changes to your schedule may also be a reasonable accommodation.
This law is a crucial protection for Colorado workers as it ensures that no pregnant worker or person who has recently given birth can be fired or penalized should they need an accommodation in the workplace. It also covers most workers in Colorado as it applies to employers with one or more employees, and does not require employees to work a certain number of hours or to have been in the position for a certain amount of time in order to benefit from its protections.
A Better Balance, along with our partners MomsRising and 9to5 Colorado, worked hard to advocate for this law’s passage and we look forward to workers benefitting from its full protections. To learn more about your rights under Colorado’s Pregnant Workers Fairness Act, check out A Better Balance’s fact sheet on the law here or visit our Colorado page on Babygate.
