Office of Access and Equity: Equal Opportunity

Employee Specific Support

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Pregnancy Accommodations Steps

A reasonable workplace accommodation is a modification or adjustment to an employee's work or environment that allows qualified employees who are pregnant or have a pregnancy-related medical condition to perform the essential functions of their job or enjoy equal benefits and privileges of employment.

  1. Discuss your condition with your medical provider to best understand how your condition may impact you.
  2. Determine what related needs or barriers you may encounter within the workplace, such as limitations to lifting, walking, time it takes to complete tasks, etc., and potential leave needs. If existing options or informal arrangements are available, it is recommended that it be documented by all parties.
  3. Complete the Access & Equity: EO Pregnancy Accommodation Request Form 

Employee SpecificModifications, Adjustments, or Accommodations:

Equal Opportunity can assist in determining and providing reasonable workplace adjustments for pregnant Individuals, including, but not limited to:

  • assistance with parking considerations
  • communication and support for reasonable and appropriate breaks for standing, lactation, nursing, to use the bathroom, eat, and rest, etc.
  • Workplace adjustments (i.e. change in workstation and seating equipment and/or relocation of workplace materials and equipment to make them more accessible)
  • adjustment of uniforms and safety apparel
  • modified work schedule, take leave or time off to recover from childbirth, be excused from strenuous activities and/or activities that involve exposure to compounds not safe for pregnancy.

Leave:

The Office of Human Resources assists employees with applicable leave options. Leave options may include:

Family Medical Leave Act
Employees are entitled to a total of 12 weeks of FML leave (in a 12-month period for): 

  • Birth of a child and to care for the newborn child after birth

  • Placement of or to care for a child placed with the employee for adoption or foster care

Paid Parental Leave
Covers qualifying events, including birth of a child, adoption, foster care or other legal placement of a child:

  • Eligible employees who give birth will receive eight weeks of paid leave 

  • Other eligible employees will receive four weeks of paid leave 

  • Paid at 100 percent of the eligible employee's regular pay

Voluntary Shared Leave
Available if and when all available leave has been exhausted

During Pregnancy

  • The Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) provides job-protected leave for prenatal care or when an individual who is pregnant cannot work because of the pregnancy. For adoptive or foster parents, the FMLA provides a right to take leave for required counseling, court appointments, and related travel before the foster care placement or adoption. Discrimination and harassment based on pregnancy for any aspect of employment, including hiring, firing, pay, promotions, training, and more, violates Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.

Birth and Bonding Time

  • The FMLA also provides a right to unpaid, job-protected leave for the baby’s birth or the placement of a child with adoptive or foster parents. This right is afforded not only for the birth but for an extended time to bond with the child within the first year after birth or placement.

Returning to Work and Lactation:

The University supports initiatives for nursing employees to express milk for up to one year after the child’s birth.

Private Space: 

Nursing employees should be provided a private space that is secure, clean, and shielded from view for expressing milk. Such a space should not be located within a restroom or common area. If an employee has a private office, it may be used for this purpose. If a dedicated lactation room is not available, supervisors should consider reserving a conference room or converting an unused office or other room. The selected space should be clean, infrequently used, and easily adaptable. Ideally, the lactation location will include a chair, electrical outlet, small table or other flat surface, and a locking door.

Reasonable Break Time:

On average, nursing employees express breast milk for 20 minutes every three hours, not including travel time to and from the lactation room. Some nursing employees may need to express milk for longer periods or more frequently.

Lactation breaks may be taken during designated break periods. In general short breaks of 20 minutes or less must be counted as time worked.

  • 20 minutes or less, the break is considered work time.

  • Employees who take a break longer than 20 minutes may need to either take time off or flex their workday with supervisor approval.

Employee Responsibility: 

Employees are responsible for storing their expressed milk and providing their own personally labeled containers. While campus refrigerators may be used, it is important to note that the University cannot guarantee the safety of the milk. 

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