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Colorado Law Requires ‘Reasonable Accommodations’ for Pregnant Workers

In signing this bill into law Wednesday, Gov. John Hickenlooper added Colorado to a growing list of states that have passed laws requiring worker protections for employees who are pregnant or have related conditions.

Colorado Gov. John Hickenlooper signing a 2013 bill into law. Mike Johnston / Flickr

Colorado Gov. John Hickenlooper signed into law a bill Wednesday requiring “reasonable accommodations” for workers who are pregnant, recovering from childbirth, or suffer from pregnancy related medical conditions.

The accommodations may include: longer or more frequent breaks for food or water, modified schedules, adjusted seating arrangements, assistance with manual labor, “light duty,” and more. But the law specifically states that an employer is not required to hire, transfer, or fire an employee to make such accommodations on behalf of a pregnant person, unless such actions were already planned or would be reasonable.

The bill, HB 1438, garnered bipartisan support in Colorado’s divided legislature, drawing “no” votes only from Republicans, such as state Rep. Gordon Klingenschmitt (Colorado Springs), state Rep. Stephen Humphrey (Severance), and Sen. Randy Baumgardner (Hot Sulphur Springs).

All house and senate Democrats backed HB 1438.

The intent of the general assembly, the bill states, is “to combat pregnancy discrimination, promote public health, and ensure full and equal protection for women in the labor force by requiring employers to provide reasonable accommodations to employees with conditions related to pregnancy, childbirth, or a related condition.”

Pro-choice advocates see HB 1438 as advancing reproductive justice in the state.

“Our mission is advocating for reproductive justice and ensuring every woman has the right and the ability make her own health care choices,” said Karen Middleton, executive director of NARAL Pro-Choice Colorado, in a news release. “And when women do choose to have children, workplaces should respect that choice, not discriminate, and accommodate their needs on the job.”

Opponents of the bill worry that the law will have a negative effect on businesses and jobs.

“I didn’t have a tenacious opposition to the bill,” state Sen. Chris Holbert (R-Parker) told Rewire. “But I’m concerned that this is another requirement for employers, making it more difficult for them to hire or keep people employed.”

At least 17 states, including California, New York, and Texas, have passed similar laws providing different levels of protection.

However, a bill this year to provide pregnancy accommodations in Washington state cleared the Republican-controlled senate but died in the hands of GOP house members.

The federal Pregnancy Discrimination Act (PDA) of 1978 clarified that it’s sex discrimination to discriminate based on pregnancy, childbirth, or related conditions. A recent U.S. Supreme Court ruling held that employers are in violation of the PDA if they don’t accommodate pregnant workers as they would accommodate their non-pregnant employees.

Federal legislation with expanded protections and accommodations, called the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act, has stalled in Congress, even though it has some bipartisan support.

In 2015, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission issued a non-binding guidance on pregnancy discrimination, stating that in the years since the Pregnancy Discrimination Act was passed, charges “alleging pregnancy discrimination have increased substantially.”