California provides extensive workplace protections for pregnant employees through multiple laws that work together to ensure you can maintain your employment while managing pregnancy, childbirth, and related medical conditions. Understanding these overlapping protections is crucial because California’s laws are among the most generous in the nation and often exceed federal requirements.
Under California’s Fair Employment and Housing Act (FEHA), pregnancy discrimination is explicitly prohibited. Your employer cannot make employment decisions based on pregnancy, childbirth, or related medical conditions. This protection extends beyond just firing to include hiring, promotion, job assignments, training opportunities, and all other terms and conditions of employment. Pregnancy-related discrimination can be direct, such as negative comments about your pregnancy, or indirect, such as policies that disproportionately affect pregnant employees.
California’s Pregnancy Disability Leave (PDL) law provides up to four months of job-protected leave for pregnancy-related disability. This leave is available if you’re unable to perform your regular job duties due to pregnancy, childbirth, or related medical conditions. Unlike federal law, PDL doesn’t require you to work for a specific period before becoming eligible, and it applies to employers with five or more employees rather than the fifty required under federal law.
During PDL, your employer must maintain your group health insurance on the same terms as if you continued working. You’re entitled to return to the same position or a comparable position with equivalent pay, benefits, and working conditions. If your employer fails to provide PDL or interferes with your rights, you can recover damages including lost wages and benefits.
Reasonable accommodation during pregnancy is required under California law. Your employer must provide reasonable accommodation for pregnancy-related limitations, which might include modified duties, schedule changes, permission to sit or stand as needed, more frequent breaks, assistance with lifting, or temporary assignment to less strenuous work. The accommodation process requires an interactive dialogue between you and your employer to identify effective solutions.
California’s accommodation requirements are broader than federal law. While federal law only requires accommodation for pregnancy-related disabilities, California requires accommodation for any pregnancy-related limitation that affects your ability to perform job functions. This means you may be entitled to accommodation even for minor pregnancy-related needs that wouldn’t qualify as disabilities under federal law.
The California Family Rights Act (CFRA) provides additional leave rights for bonding with a new child. CFRA leave can be taken for up to twelve weeks after the birth of your child and is separate from PDL. This means you could potentially take up to four months of PDL followed by twelve weeks of CFRA leave, providing significant time off around childbirth.
If you work for an employer with five or more employees, you’re protected under the Fair Employment and Housing Act regardless of how long you’ve worked there. For larger employers with fifty or more employees, additional protections under CFRA and federal Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) may apply, potentially providing even more leave time and job protection.
California law also prohibits discrimination based on breastfeeding or expressing breast milk. Your employer must provide reasonable break time and appropriate facilities for expressing milk, and cannot discriminate against you for engaging in these activities. The facility must be private, clean, and free from intrusion, and cannot be a toilet stall.
Harassment related to pregnancy is explicitly prohibited under California law. This includes unwelcome comments about your pregnancy, inappropriate questions about your reproductive plans, or any conduct that creates a hostile work environment based on your pregnancy. Your employer is strictly liable for pregnancy-related harassment by supervisors and must take immediate corrective action for harassment by coworkers.
Anti-retaliation protections ensure that you cannot be punished for asserting your pregnancy-related rights. This includes filing complaints, requesting accommodation, taking protected leave, or opposing discriminatory treatment. Retaliation can take many forms including termination, demotion, reduced hours, negative performance evaluations, or hostile treatment.
California’s wage and hour laws continue to apply during pregnancy. You’re entitled to meal and rest breaks, overtime pay, and all other wage protections. If pregnancy-related medical appointments cause you to miss work, your employer generally cannot require you to make up the time, though they may require you to use accrued vacation or sick leave.
Documentation is important throughout your pregnancy for protecting your rights. Keep records of any pregnancy-related discussions with supervisors, accommodation requests, medical appointments, and any changes in your treatment at work. Save emails, performance evaluations, and other relevant documents that might be useful if discrimination or retaliation occurs.
If you experience complications or need bed rest, these may qualify for additional leave under California’s disability laws. Pregnancy-related disabilities can extend your leave rights beyond the standard four months of PDL, particularly if you experience serious pregnancy complications or postpartum depression.
California’s Healthy Workplaces, Healthy Families Act provides paid sick leave that can be used for prenatal care, your own pregnancy-related illness, or to care for family members. This paid leave is in addition to any unpaid leave you may be entitled to under PDL or CFRA.
Your employer cannot inquire about your pregnancy plans during hiring or require you to disclose pregnancy unless it directly affects your ability to perform essential job functions. Pre-employment medical examinations cannot include pregnancy tests unless pregnancy would prevent you from performing essential job duties that cannot be reasonably accommodated.
If you’re planning pregnancy, consider reviewing your employer’s policies in advance. While you’re not required to provide extensive notice of pregnancy-related leave, giving reasonable notice when possible can help ensure smooth transitions and demonstrate your professionalism.
California’s strong pregnancy protections reflect the state’s recognition that pregnancy discrimination undermines both workplace equality and family economic security. These laws work together to ensure that you can start or expand your family without sacrificing your career or financial stability, and enforcement mechanisms provide meaningful remedies when employers fail to meet their obligations.