New Jersey Pregnant Employee Protections Enhanced by Federal Pregnant Workers Fairness Act and the EEOC’s Implementing Regulations

New Jersey employment law provides significant protections for employees who are pregnant, breastfeeding, or have recently given birth.

The New Jersey Law Against Discrimination provides protection against discrimination against pregnant and breastfeeding employees.  It also requires that employers make reasonable accommodations available so that pregnant or breastfeeding employees and new mothers can perform their jobs.  It prohibits retaliation against employees who request such accommodations.  The New Jersey Law Against Discrimination gives a non-exhaustive list of such reasonable accommodations: “bathroom breaks, breaks for increased water intake, periodic rest, assistance with manual labor, job restructuring or modified work schedules, and temporary transfers to less strenuous or hazardous work.”

The New Jersey Law Against Discrimination generally gives more extensive protection to employees than Federal law, including pregnant and breastfeeding employees, and New Jersey State courts generally provide greater procedural protections for employees than Federal court.  Nonetheless, Federal law also provides protections for pregnant employees.

The Federal Pregnant Workers Fairness Act was passed into law in 2022, and the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission passed regulations implementing the PWFA in 2024.  The FWPWA requires that reasonable accommodations be made for employees with “known conditions related to pregnancy, childbirth or related medical conditions.”  The regulations have interpretive guidance with examples of what conditions might be related and make clear that they need not be readily apparent, including mental health issues such as post-partem depression, in vitro insemination, fatigue, back pain, limitations on lifting, nutritional needs, fertility and infertility treatments, the use of contraception, breastfeeding and pumping, miscarriage, stillbirth, having or choosing not to have an abortion, preeclampsia, gestational diabetes, and HELLP (hemolysis, elevated liver enzymes and low platelets) syndrome, and exacerbated preexisting conditions.

The new regulations define “qualified employees” under the PWFA as those who “with or without reasonable accommodation, can perform the essential functions” of their job.  Even if they cannot perform all of the essential functions of their job, they will still be protected if the inability will last only for a temporary period of time, the functions will be able to be performed in the “near future,” and reasonable accommodations for the inability are available and would not impose an undue hardship on the employer.  Reasonable accommodations suggested by the Regulations, again a non-exhaustive list, include frequent breaks, part-time work, remote work, changes in sitting and/or standing requirements, reserved parking spots, moving the work location to make restrooms or other facilities more accessible, frequent restroom breaks, carrying water or other food or liquids, modifying equipment, and relaxing uniform requirements.

While New Jersey’s Law Against Discrimination already provides broad coverage, the Federal Pregnant Workers Fairness Act and regulations are nonetheless important since New Jersey courts often look to Federal law and Federal court interpretations of Federal employment law when New Jersey law is silent or ambiguous.  In general, however, New Jersey’s courts only look to Federal law to provide more expansive rights, not restrict them.  Therefore, the PWFA and the EEOC’s regulations are valuable tools for New Jersey’s courts in interpreting the New Jersey Law Against Discrimination.

 

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If you have any questions about an employer’s obligations toward reasonably accommodating pregnancy, breastfeeding, childbirth or related conditions, or to find out about the rights of employees who are pregnant, breastfeeding or having given birth, please call (973) 890-0004 or fill out the contact form on this page to schedule a consultation with one of our New Jersey employment attorneys.  We can help.