New Pregnancy Accommodation Requirements Coming to Illinois in January 2015

On August 26, 2014, Governor Pat Quinn of Illinois signed the so-called “Pregnancy Fairness bill” into law, creating broad new protections for pregnant workers in Illinois. The legislation, which comes on the heels of the EEOC’s recent federal pregnancy discrimination guidance, amends the Illinois Human Rights Act and creates substantial new rules for employers interacting with pregnant employees and job applicants. Notably, small employers are not exempt from the Illinois law — all employers operating in Illinois will be subject to the new rules.

Under the new law, any pregnant employee or job applicant (including those with “common conditions related to pregnancy or childbirth”) will have to be accommodated in the same way that disabled employees currently are accommodated under the Americans with Disabilities Act. Thus, it will be unlawful for an employer to refuse a pregnant employee’s request for a reasonable accommodation unless the accommodation would create an undue hardship. Specific accommodations that may be appropriate and necessary, according to the law, include longer bathroom breaks, assistance with manual labor, temporary transfer to less strenuous positions, equipment purchase, modified work schedules, and time to off to recover from pregnancy-related conditions. In determining whether one of these accommodations creates an “undue hardship,” Illinois courts will ask whether the action is overly expensive or disruptive given the nature and cost of the accommodation compared to the operations and financial resources of the company. Employers will also be permitted to request medical certification of a pregnant employee’s need for accommodation, including the “medical justification” for the accommodation and details regarding the nature and duration of the proposed accommodation. Lastly, after the law takes effect on January 1, 2015, employers will have to post a notice of pregnant employee’s rights under the law, which the State will make available on its website.  

For employers who reviewed the EEOC’s recent pregnancy discrimination guidance, all of this may sound familiar, and it should: the new Illinois law sets forth many of the same rules that the EEOC identified in its guidance. Illinois, however, has set forth legally binding and far more specific rules for pregnancy accommodation. Additionally, smaller employers who are exempt from the federal requirements are not similarly exempt from the new Illinois rules. Therefore, prior to January 2015, all Illinois employers should take note of the new requirements and train their staff accordingly.