California Your Rights and Obligations as a Pregnant Employee Poster Mandatory

YOUR
RIGHTS AND
OBLIGATIONS
AS A PREGNANT
EMPLOYEE
IF YOU ARE PREGNANT, HAVE A PREGNANCY-RELATED
MEDICAL CONDITION, OR ARE RECOVERING FROM
CHILDBIRTH, PLEASE READ THIS NOTICE.

OBLIGATIONS OF EMPLOYERS WITH FIVE OR MORE
EMPLOYEES
•	 Reasonably accommodate your medical needs related to
pregnancy, childbirth, or related conditions (such as temporarily
modifying your work duties, providing you with a stool or chair, or
allowing more frequent breaks);
•	 Transfer you to a less strenuous or hazardous position (if one is
available) or duties if medically needed because of your pregnancy;
•	 Provide you with pregnancy disability leave (PDL) of up to four
months (the working days you normally would work in one-third of
a year or 17 1/3 weeks) and return you to your same job when you
are no longer disabled by your pregnancy or, in certain instances,
to a comparable job. Taking PDL does not protect you from nonleave related employment actions, such as a layoff;
•	 Provide a reasonable amount of break time and use of a room or
other location close to the employee’s work area to express breast
milk in private as set forth in the Labor Code; and
•	 Never discriminate, harass, or retaliate on the basis of pregnancy.
Employers with one or more employees must not harass employees on
the basis of pregnancy.

PREGNANCY DISABILITY LEAVE
•	 Although PDL can last up to four months, you are entitled to take
PDL only for the period of time during which you are disabled by
pregnancy, a pregnancy-related medical condition, or childbirth.
Your health care provider determines how much time you need.
•	 After you inform your employer that you need to take PDL, your
employer must guarantee in writing that you can return to work
in your same or a comparable position if you request a written
guarantee.
•	 Your employer may require you to submit written medical
certification from your health care provider supporting the need
for your leave.
•	 PDL may include, but is not limited to, additional or more frequent
breaks, time for prenatal or postnatal medical appointments, and
doctor-ordered bed rest, and covers conditions such as severe
morning sickness, gestational diabetes, pregnancy-induced
hypertension, preeclampsia, recovery from childbirth or loss or end
of pregnancy and/or post-partum depression.
• PDL does not need to be taken all at once but can be taken on an
as-needed basis as required by your health care provider, including
intermittent leave or a reduced work schedule.
•	 Your leave will be paid or unpaid depending on your employer’s
policy for other types of medical leave. You may also be eligible
for state disability insurance, administered by the California
Employment Development Department.
•	 You may choose to use any vacation or other paid time off during
your PDL.
•	 Your employer may require or you may choose to use any available
sick leave during your PDL.
•	 Your employer is required to continue your group health coverage
during your PDL at the same level and under the same conditions
that coverage would have been provided if you had continued in
employment continuously for the duration of your leave.
•	 Taking PDL may impact certain benefits and your seniority date;
please contact your employer for details.

YOUR OBLIGATIONS AS AN EMPLOYEE
• Give your employer reasonable notice. To receive a reasonable
accommodation, obtain a transfer, or take PDL, you must give
your employer sufficient notice for your employer to make
appropriate plans. Sufficient notice means 30 days advance notice
if the need for the reasonable accommodation, transfer, or PDL is
foreseeable, or as soon as practicable if the need is an emergency
or unforeseeable.
•	 Provide a written medical certification from your health care
provider. Except in a medical emergency where there is no time
to obtain it, your employer may require you to provide a written
medical certification from your health care provider of the medical
need for your reasonable accommodation, transfer, or PDL. If the
need is an emergency or unforeseeable, you must provide this
certification within the time frame your employer requests, unless
it is not practicable for you to do so under the circumstances
despite your diligent, good faith efforts. Your employer must give
you at least 15 calendar days to submit the certification. Ask if your
employer has a copy of a medical certification form for your health
care provider to complete.
•	 If you do not give your employer notice or written medical
certification of your medical need (if required), either in advance or
as soon as practicable, your employer may be justified in delaying
your reasonable accommodation, transfer, or PDL.

ADDITIONAL LEAVE UNDER THE CALIFORNIA FAMILY
RIGHTS ACT (CFRA)
Under CFRA you may have a right to take family care or medical leave
(CFRA leave) to bond with a new child. If you gave birth to the child,
you would generally take CFRA bonding leave after taking PDL. CFRA
leave may be up to 12 workweeks in a 12-month period for the birth,
adoption, or foster care placement of your child*. You must take it
within one year of these events.
In addition to taking leave to bond with a new child, you can also take
CRFA leave because of your own serious health condition (not related
to pregnancy) or that of your child, parent**, spouse, domestic
partner, grandparent, grandchild, sibling, or “designated person”
related by blood or with whom you have a family-like relationship.
You are eligible for CFRA leave if you have more than 12 months of
service with an employer, have worked at least 1,250 hours in the
12-month period before the date you want to begin your leave, and
your employer has five or more employees.
Your employer may, but is not required to, pay you while you are
out on CFRA leave, but they must allow you to use any accrued paid
time-off while on CFRA leave. You may also be eligible for benefits
administered by the Employment Development Department,
including state disability insurance (for your own health condition)
or Paid Family Leave (for bonding with a new child or for caring
for a family member with a serious health condition). For more
information, visit edd.ca.gov/disability
If you are improperly denied pregnancy or childbirth-related
reasonable accommodations or protected leave under PDL or CFRA,
file a complaint with the Civil Rights Department (CRD).

TO FILE A COMPLAINT
calcivilrights.ca.gov/complaintprocess
Toll Free: 800.884.1684 / TTY: 800.700.2320
California Relay Service (711)
Have a disability that requires a reasonable accommodation? CRD can
assist you with your complaint.
For translations of this poster, visit:
www.calcivilrights.ca.gov/posters/required

*“Child” means a biological, adopted, or foster child, a stepchild, a legal ward, or a child of an employee or the employee’s domestic partner, or a person to whom the employee stands in loco parentis (in place
of a parent).
**“Parent” includes a biological, foster, or adoptive parent, a parent-in-law, a stepparent, a legal guardian, or other person who stood in loco parentis to the employee when the
employee was a child.

CRD-E09P-ENG / January 2025