March 13, 2024 • 12 mins
Accommodating the needs of each individual employee can be a daunting task for managers. In this solo episode, I share several accommodation ideas and things to consider for the pregnant employees on your team.
Download the pdf guide with these ideas at:
kortneyross.com/ideasforpregnantemployees
Connect with us at:
LinkedIn: @kortneyross
Instagram: @nextgenworkculture
Facebook: @nextgenworkculture
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:00):
Hello and welcome back to the NextGen Work Culture today is just me and I wanted talk to you about
seven simple types of accommodations that a pregnant employee might need
So first of all, why is this important?Why do you need to understand
how to accommodate the pregnant employees on your team?
(00:20):
Well up to 75% of women will experience a pregnancy at some
point during their career so that is a huge
percentage of the work force that is going
to be going through pregnancy while they are trying to work
with it being such a large portion of women that are likely to become pregnant leaders really
(00:41):
need to be doing everything they can to support their employees before
pregnancy so during that family planning
but also during their pregnancy and following their pregnancies so the women will want to return to
work and stay at that company after they become a new mom. It can be a really big
(01:03):
shift especially if it's the first baby to becoming a working mom so it's a super important time to
make sure that you are retaining those employees
but beyond that of it's also the law that pregnant workers fairness act
(01:24):
was passed not that long ago in the United States so now employers
are required to accommodate pregnant employees
and if you want more information about that law
go back and listen to last week's episode with Attorney
Jessica Craft who walked us through some of the details
of the PWFA
(01:45):
so I know that it can be difficult to consider
running a business or managing a team and how in the world to make individual
accommodations for people whether that be under ADA or the PWFA
which is why I'm coming at you today with just a
few simple things that think about whenever someone on
(02:06):
your team tells you that they're pregnant and it's important to keep in mind that you can't force these
accommodations on somebody they
need to actually request them from you as an interactive process is required here where the employee
and the manager or their leader are going to have to go back and forth and talk about the
(02:28):
accommodations and what they may need
so even though I'm giving you some ideas here never force this on an employee
You can offer it or talk about it but you cannot require
that they accept any sort of accommodation just because they're pregnant
(02:48):
So idea number one One of the biggest
things that everyone knows about pregnancies is that sometimes
it comes with dreaded morning sickness but what you may not realize
is morning sickness isn't always in the morning and I actually
most often felt really sick in the mid afternoon which unfortunately for me happened to be
(03:09):
during the drive home a lot of days so just know that your pregnant employees may be dealing with
sickness at different times of day not always in the morning and it can be triggered by certain smells
or lots of different things
so how can you accommodate for that if you know they're gonna
(03:29):
be feeling a sickness a certain time of day you may be able to
work their schedule around that so maybe if the shift worker
and they are feeling really sick in the mornings and to give them evening shifts if possible or give
them the option of trading shifts or give
or flexible work from home if possible and allow them to be home during those times that they
(03:55):
know that they're probably going to be feeling pretty nauseous
Another common problem that people may run into especially later in their pregnancy is
problems with standing or walking a lot
I was a teacher when I was pregnant and I had to get myself a really nice stool to teach at the
(04:16):
front of the classroom because it hurt for me to be on my feet all day especially in the second pregnancy I
I was having a lot of joint pain and back pain and a if you're carrying multiples, you know twins or
triplets then you've really got a lot of back pain and stuff that comes along with that
and swollen legs muscle spasms all kinds of problems that could make it very difficult to do
(04:41):
your job if you're required to do a lot of standing or walking so think
about ways that you can accommodate for that on
to it also becomes kind of weird to walk up and down the stairs
because you start to get a little more clumsy as your center of gravity kind of shifts as you
(05:02):
gain more weight on your belly so provide alternatives
like access to an elevator if you can
or not requiring them to come to the
top floor for a meeting if that's the only thing they have to go up there for
and provide an option like a stool for factory workers or for cashiers and if sitting is really just
(05:25):
not possible be sure that you give them more
breaks if they need it
and again remember you can't force these accommodations on someone but it is just some great
ideas to talk about with them and ask if maybe they would like some help
obviously when you're growing a baby in your belly your body
(05:48):
changes a little bit so as their manager or
leader you may need
you may need to change the dress code expectations just a little
and
allow them to wear a different kind of shirt
(06:10):
or not have to tuck in their shirt maybe allow stretchy like athletic pants or leggings or scrub
pants even would be a great option for some
industries and allow them to wear tennis shoes or something that has really good support if they
have to be on their feet a lot rather than you know requiring a
(06:34):
super dressy shoes. I always just wore black
slacks or leggings or something with black plain black tennis
shoes rather than dress shoes and that was a good option for me
throughout my pregnancy
but I also wore a lot of open toed shoes and sandals during the summer with one of my kids
(06:55):
because my feet were swelling so keep that in mind too that maybe if you see an employee
who is super pregnant come in in flip-flops one day, maybe
don't chastise her for it because it might be the only shoes
that fit on her feet that morning
the next idea or thing to think about is requiring longer
(07:17):
days may not be a great idea long work hours
have been related to preterm birth and miscarriages and other pregnancy issues
so try not to require long overtime hours of pregnant employees of course it has to be their choice of
you know if they want to work the overtime of course let them do that but don't make over time required
(07:43):
because it might be really difficult for them to be working as 10, 11, 12 hour day
or a 6 or 7 day workweek
and some conditions in pregnancy may even require them to be temporarily moved to part
time hours or allowed to work from home or some other flexibility
(08:06):
and as long as that's not going to cause an undue hardship for your business
remember the pregnant workers fairness act does require that you
accommodate that request somehow
depending on the industry you may be in a situation where like snacks or water aren't typically allowed
maybe on the factory floor or something but requiring
(08:30):
I mean growing a baby does require
a lot of extra nourishment for mom I know I was always like starving plus there are some situations
like gestational diabetes where they
develop diabetes during pregnancy and may have to
keep a really close eye on their sugar
and have a snack to help keep the sugar from plummeting during the day
(08:52):
so make sure that
if the pregnant employee needs it that you are allowing them to either step away from work or just have a
snack right there at their w ork station throughout the day if they do that
and one last of thing to keep in mind is that pregnancy comes with a lot of doctors' appointments
(09:13):
at first it's only like maybe once a month but as it gets
closer you're going every week multiple times a week
sometimes even daily for checking in on the baby depending on the types of a complications
that may be coming up or how far along to the pregnancy they are
so ensure that your employees understand that they can take time for appointments even if they don't
(09:38):
have sick days or personal time off left you as an employee as an employer or as a manager
are required to allow them to go to those very important prenatal appointments we don't want women
women skipping the prenatal appointments because they don't feel that they can take time off from work
work ideally
allow them to flex their hours or work a different schedule or something
(10:01):
so they can still go to those appointments without missing
money from their paycheck because this is already a
financially stressful time for their family preparing for the baby
but if all else fails you have to at least allow them to take unpaid time off to attend the appointments
So that's just a few quick ideas or thoughts about accommodations
(10:24):
you may need to give to someone when they are pregnant
and the most important thing is just to make them feel like they are really surrounded by support
that they are in an atmosphere where they are cared about and valued as a person and
that they are supported
along their journey to becoming a mother as well not just as another
(10:46):
number on a sheet as an employee
it can be a very exhausting and very stressful and emotional time
than just do your best to wrap them in support check in
ask how it's going offer help connect them with employee resource groups or mental health
professionals maybe they have a access to in their benefits or any other maternity benefits that your
(11:13):
company offers just be sure to add connect her with all of that and make sure that she
knows her benefits and how she can be supported
at work
That's it for this episode if you have enjoyed this I really encourage
you to go and download the free copy of
my eight ideas for accommodating pregnant employees
(11:36):
you can find that at KortneyRoss.com/ideasforpregnantemployees
or just grab
the link in the show notes until next time take care
Hello and welcome back to the NextGen Work Culture today is just me and I wanted talk to you about
seven simple types of accommodations that a pregnant employee might need
So first of all, why is this important?Why do you need to understand
how to accommodate the pregnant employees on your team?
(00:20):
Well up to 75% of women will experience a pregnancy at some
point during their career so that is a huge
percentage of the work force that is going
to be going through pregnancy while they are trying to work
with it being such a large portion of women that are likely to become pregnant leaders really
(00:41):
need to be doing everything they can to support their employees before
pregnancy so during that family planning
but also during their pregnancy and following their pregnancies so the women will want to return to
work and stay at that company after they become a new mom. It can be a really big
(01:03):
shift especially if it's the first baby to becoming a working mom so it's a super important time to
make sure that you are retaining those employees
but beyond that of it's also the law that pregnant workers fairness act
(01:24):
was passed not that long ago in the United States so now employers
are required to accommodate pregnant employees
and if you want more information about that law
go back and listen to last week's episode with Attorney
Jessica Craft who walked us through some of the details
of the PWFA
(01:45):
so I know that it can be difficult to consider
running a business or managing a team and how in the world to make individual
accommodations for people whether that be under ADA or the PWFA
which is why I'm coming at you today with just a
few simple things that think about whenever someone on
(02:06):
your team tells you that they're pregnant and it's important to keep in mind that you can't force these
accommodations on somebody they
need to actually request them from you as an interactive process is required here where the employee
and the manager or their leader are going to have to go back and forth and talk about the
(02:28):
accommodations and what they may need
so even though I'm giving you some ideas here never force this on an employee
You can offer it or talk about it but you cannot require
that they accept any sort of accommodation just because they're pregnant
(02:48):
So idea number one One of the biggest
things that everyone knows about pregnancies is that sometimes
it comes with dreaded morning sickness but what you may not realize
is morning sickness isn't always in the morning and I actually
most often felt really sick in the mid afternoon which unfortunately for me happened to be
(03:09):
during the drive home a lot of days so just know that your pregnant employees may be dealing with
sickness at different times of day not always in the morning and it can be triggered by certain smells
or lots of different things
so how can you accommodate for that if you know they're gonna
(03:29):
be feeling a sickness a certain time of day you may be able to
work their schedule around that so maybe if the shift worker
and they are feeling really sick in the mornings and to give them evening shifts if possible or give
them the option of trading shifts or give
or flexible work from home if possible and allow them to be home during those times that they
(03:55):
know that they're probably going to be feeling pretty nauseous
Another common problem that people may run into especially later in their pregnancy is
problems with standing or walking a lot
I was a teacher when I was pregnant and I had to get myself a really nice stool to teach at the
(04:16):
front of the classroom because it hurt for me to be on my feet all day especially in the second pregnancy I
I was having a lot of joint pain and back pain and a if you're carrying multiples, you know twins or
triplets then you've really got a lot of back pain and stuff that comes along with that
and swollen legs muscle spasms all kinds of problems that could make it very difficult to do
(04:41):
your job if you're required to do a lot of standing or walking so think
about ways that you can accommodate for that on
to it also becomes kind of weird to walk up and down the stairs
because you start to get a little more clumsy as your center of gravity kind of shifts as you
(05:02):
gain more weight on your belly so provide alternatives
like access to an elevator if you can
or not requiring them to come to the
top floor for a meeting if that's the only thing they have to go up there for
and provide an option like a stool for factory workers or for cashiers and if sitting is really just
(05:25):
not possible be sure that you give them more
breaks if they need it
and again remember you can't force these accommodations on someone but it is just some great
ideas to talk about with them and ask if maybe they would like some help
obviously when you're growing a baby in your belly your body
(05:48):
changes a little bit so as their manager or
leader you may need
you may need to change the dress code expectations just a little
and
allow them to wear a different kind of shirt
(06:10):
or not have to tuck in their shirt maybe allow stretchy like athletic pants or leggings or scrub
pants even would be a great option for some
industries and allow them to wear tennis shoes or something that has really good support if they
have to be on their feet a lot rather than you know requiring a
(06:34):
super dressy shoes. I always just wore black
slacks or leggings or something with black plain black tennis
shoes rather than dress shoes and that was a good option for me
throughout my pregnancy
but I also wore a lot of open toed shoes and sandals during the summer with one of my kids
(06:55):
because my feet were swelling so keep that in mind too that maybe if you see an employee
who is super pregnant come in in flip-flops one day, maybe
don't chastise her for it because it might be the only shoes
that fit on her feet that morning
the next idea or thing to think about is requiring longer
(07:17):
days may not be a great idea long work hours
have been related to preterm birth and miscarriages and other pregnancy issues
so try not to require long overtime hours of pregnant employees of course it has to be their choice of
you know if they want to work the overtime of course let them do that but don't make over time required
(07:43):
because it might be really difficult for them to be working as 10, 11, 12 hour day
or a 6 or 7 day workweek
and some conditions in pregnancy may even require them to be temporarily moved to part
time hours or allowed to work from home or some other flexibility
(08:06):
and as long as that's not going to cause an undue hardship for your business
remember the pregnant workers fairness act does require that you
accommodate that request somehow
depending on the industry you may be in a situation where like snacks or water aren't typically allowed
maybe on the factory floor or something but requiring
(08:30):
I mean growing a baby does require
a lot of extra nourishment for mom I know I was always like starving plus there are some situations
like gestational diabetes where they
develop diabetes during pregnancy and may have to
keep a really close eye on their sugar
and have a snack to help keep the sugar from plummeting during the day
(08:52):
so make sure that
if the pregnant employee needs it that you are allowing them to either step away from work or just have a
snack right there at their w ork station throughout the day if they do that
and one last of thing to keep in mind is that pregnancy comes with a lot of doctors' appointments
(09:13):
at first it's only like maybe once a month but as it gets
closer you're going every week multiple times a week
sometimes even daily for checking in on the baby depending on the types of a complications
that may be coming up or how far along to the pregnancy they are
so ensure that your employees understand that they can take time for appointments even if they don't
(09:38):
have sick days or personal time off left you as an employee as an employer or as a manager
are required to allow them to go to those very important prenatal appointments we don't want women
women skipping the prenatal appointments because they don't feel that they can take time off from work
work ideally
allow them to flex their hours or work a different schedule or something
(10:01):
so they can still go to those appointments without missing
money from their paycheck because this is already a
financially stressful time for their family preparing for the baby
but if all else fails you have to at least allow them to take unpaid time off to attend the appointments
So that's just a few quick ideas or thoughts about accommodations
(10:24):
you may need to give to someone when they are pregnant
and the most important thing is just to make them feel like they are really surrounded by support
that they are in an atmosphere where they are cared about and valued as a person and
that they are supported
along their journey to becoming a mother as well not just as another
(10:46):
number on a sheet as an employee
it can be a very exhausting and very stressful and emotional time
than just do your best to wrap them in support check in
ask how it's going offer help connect them with employee resource groups or mental health
professionals maybe they have a access to in their benefits or any other maternity benefits that your
(11:13):
company offers just be sure to add connect her with all of that and make sure that she
knows her benefits and how she can be supported
at work
That's it for this episode if you have enjoyed this I really encourage
you to go and download the free copy of
my eight ideas for accommodating pregnant employees
(11:36):
you can find that at KortneyRoss.com/ideasforpregnantemployees
or just grab
the link in the show notes until next time take care
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