Effective April 20, 2014, all employers in the City of Philadelphia are required to provide written notice of the recently enacted Pregnancy Accommodation Rights Law. This notice must be provided to new employees at commencement of employment. Ideally, the notice would be included in an employee handbook or other form of hiring package. As for existing employees, they must also be notified of the law. Circulation of the written notice requirement for existing employees could be accomplished by including an insert in an individual’s pay check. Under the law, employers are also highly encouraged to conspicuously post the official notice in employee break rooms or other accessible areas.
Reasonable accommodations for pregnant employees can include actions such as more frequent bathroom breaks, periodic rest breaks especially for those pregnant employees who stand for prolonged time periods, assistance with manual labor tasks and job modifications as well as unpaid medical leave without penalty.
Philadelphia employers are encouraged to review the Fair Practices Ordinance: Protections Against Unlawful Discrimination, post the official notice in the workplace as a reminder of the law, update organizational policies and procedures and train managers and supervisors on pregnancy accommodation requests.
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