Honors Theses
Date of Award
2019
Document Type
Undergraduate Thesis
Department
Public Policy Leadership
First Advisor
Melissa Bass
Relational Format
Dissertation/Thesis
Abstract
Pregnancy accommodations refer to changes in the workplace or the way a job is typically done that allows an equal employment opportunity to a pregnant individual. Twenty-three states and Washington, D.C. have enacted pregnancy accommodation laws or requirements. Through documentary analysis of the state laws and surrounding literature, I compare the state laws to one another and the issue of pregnancy accommodations is discussed. The United States needs a national or uniform pregnancy accommodation law to equally protect pregnant women from job loss, wage loss, hazards to their pregnancy, and other forms of discrimination. In addition, companies and employers benefit from uniform pregnancy accommodation laws due to fewer lawsuits, including expensive legal expenses and time, and ease of creating policies and procedures. The current state and federal laws’ insufficiencies are due to small scope of coverage. The problems are reinforced through increasing case numbers, increasing number of state laws, and literature on women’s experiences. I compare the state laws on pregnancy accommodation in order to give a policy recommendation on the feasible ways to address the problem of failure in protecting pregnant women in the workplace due to lack of accommodation laws. I recommend the adoption by all states of the model law proposed to ensure equal access for pregnancy accommodation.
Recommended Citation
Hay, Margaret Hampton, "Comparative Analysis of Pregnancy Accommodation Laws Among States" (2019). Honors Theses. 1026.
https://egrove.olemiss.edu/hon_thesis/1026
Accessibility Status
Searchable text