A new law will be effective in Connecticut on October 1, 2017, and Connecticut employers will be required to provide reasonable accommodations to pregnant employees and job applicants. The new Act requires an accommodation unless providing one would cause an undue hardship.

An employer must provide written notice of the right to be free from discrimination in relation to pregnancy, childbirth, and related conditions as well as the right to a reasonable accommodation. This notice must be provided to new employees when their employment begins, to existing employees by February 2018, and to any employee who notifies her employer of her pregnancy within 10 days after the notification. An employer may provide notice by conspicuously displaying a poster in both English and Spanish.

Connecticut employers now have different definitions of pregnancy, reasonable accommodation, and undue hardship under the new Connecticut law, the Pregnancy Discrimination Act, and the Americans with Disabilities Act. Employers should review their employment policies and practices and discuss them with their attorney.