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SANDY CULLEN | Wisconsin State Journal | scullen@madison.com | 608-252-6137 http://host.madison.com/wsj/news/local/govt-and-politics/at-issue-pregnant-workers/article_dfe650bd-9a19-5382-9d12-dbbf5bfaba39.html A weekly feature on proposed changes to state and local law. In a nutshell Current law prohibits employment discrimination on the basis of sex, including discrimination against any woman on the basis of pregnancy or a related medical condition. The law also prohibits employment discrimination on the basis of disability, including refusing to reasonably accommodate an employee’s disability, but the Labor and Industry Review Commission (LIRC) has held that pregnancy and pregnancy-related medical conditions are covered under the sex discrimination provisions of the Fair Employment Law. This bill (SB401, AB526) provides that employment discrimination on the basis of sex includes refusing to reasonably accommodate any condition, including a medical condition of an employee that is related to pregnancy or childbirth, or to reasonably accommodate an employee’s inability to adequately undertake the responsibilities of a particular job because of pregnancy, childbirth, or a related condition, including the need to express breast milk for a nursing child, unless the employer can demonstrate that the accommodation would pose a hardship. The bill also prohibits requiring an employee to take family, medical or any other type of leave as a reasonable accommodation. Specifically, the bill requires an employer to explore with an employee all means of providing the reasonable accommodation, including changing the employee’s job responsibilities or work hours, or transferring the employee to a different job. The bill also requires an employer to explore with the employee providing a reasonable break time to express breast milk in a private place, other than a bathroom, and providing access to an electrical outlet, running water and a refrigerator for milk storage. The case for it Rep. Eric Genrich, D-Green Bay, who introduced the Assembly bill, said the measure is needed to fill gaps in state and federal law. The father of two young children, Genrich said that his wife, an elementary school special education teacher, had high blood pressure and had to stay off her feet during one of her pregnancies. “She had a collective bargaining agreement and a very accommodating employer,” he said. “That’s not always the case.” “In the state and in the country, women are such an important part of the economy,” Genrich said. “This just really provides that security for the pregnant worker,” he said, adding that it also gives employers more certainty about what is expected of them. The case against it No groups have registered in opposition to the bill, which has bipartisan support. To get involved To contact your lawmaker about this or any other bill, call the legislative hotline, which is staffed from 8:15 a.m. to 4:45 p.m. weekdays, at 608-266-9960 or 800-362-9472. To send an email, go to the Legislature’s website at legis.wisconsin.gov. — Sandy Cullen Read more: http://host.madison.com/news/local/govt-and-politics/at-issue-pregnant-workers/article_dfe650bd-9a19-5382-9d12-dbbf5bfaba39.html#ixzz2opezrFDe