On March 28, 2016, Utah Governor Gary Herbert signed S.B. 59, providing workplace accommodations to employees due to pregnancy, childbirth, breastfeeding, or related conditions. Employers with 15 or more employees are required to provide accommodations unless these impose an undue hardship. That is, the accommodation requires “significant difficulty or expense when considered in relation to factors such as the size of the entity, the entity’s financial resources, and the nature and structure of the entity’s operation.”
Under the new antidiscrimination and workplace accommodations law, employers cannot:
- refuse to provide reasonable accommodations for an employee related to pregnancy, childbirth, breastfeeding, or related conditions;
- require an employee to terminate employment when another reasonable accommodation can be provided without creating an undue hardship to the employer; or
- deny employment opportunities to an employee if other reasonable accommodations can be made and if the denial is based on the need of the employer to make reasonable accommodations.
Furthermore, employers cannot require an employee to obtain a certification from the employee’s health care provider for more frequent restroom, food, or water breaks. Employers are required to post a notice of pregnancy and related conditions in the workplace. The new posting covering the Utah Antidiscrimination Act must be posted in the workplace by employers with 15 or more employees working within the state of Utah.
Compliance Poster Company is in the process of updating the Utah All-On-OneTM Labor Law Poster with the new Pregnancy and Related Conditions under the Utah Antidiscrimination Act posting. To pre-order your copy, call our Compliance Advisors at 800.817.7678 or click here.