Legal Resources | | 11049
Employer Notice to Employees of Rights and Obligations for Reasonable Accommodation, To Transfer and To Take Pregnancy Disability Leave.
(a) Employers to Provide Reasonable Advance Notice Advising Employees Affected by Pregnancy of Their FEHA Rights and Obligations
An employer shall give its employees reasonable advance notice of employees' FEHA rights and obligations regarding pregnancy, childbirth or related medical conditions as set forth below at section 11049(e) and (f), and as contained in Notice A and Notice B as set forth below at section 11051(a) and (b), or their equivalents.
(b) Content of Employer's Reasonable Advance Notice
An employer shall provide its employees with information about:
(1) an employee's right to request reasonable accommodation, transfer, or pregnancy disability leave;
(2) employees' notice obligations, as set forth in section 11050, to provide adequate advance notice to the employer of the need for reasonable accommodation, transfer or pregnancy disability leave; and
(3) the employer's requirement, if any, for the employee to provide medical certification to establish the medical advisability for reasonable accommodation, transfer, or pregnancy disability leave, as set forth in section 11050(b).
(c) Consequences of Employer Notice Requirement
(1) If the employer follows the requirements in section 11049(d) below, such compliance shall constitute reasonable advance notice to the employee of the employer's notice obligations.
(2) Failure of the employer to provide reasonable advance notice shall preclude the employer from taking any adverse action against the employee, including denying reasonable accommodation, transfer or pregnancy disability leave, for failing to furnish the employer with adequate advance notice of a need for reasonable accommodation, transfer, orpregnancy disability leave.
(d) Distribution of Notices
(1) Employers shall post and keep posted the appropriate notice in a conspicuous place or places where employees congregate. Electronic posting is sufficient to meet this posting requirement as long as it otherwise meets the requirements of this section.
(2) An employer is also required to give an employee a copy of the appropriate notice as soon as practicable after the employee tells the employer of her pregnancy or sooner if the employee inquires about reasonable accommodation, transfer, or pregnancy disability leaves.
(3) If the employer publishes an employee handbook that describes other kinds of reasonable accommodation, transfers or temporary disability leaves available to its employees, that employer is encouraged to include a description of reasonable accommodation, transfer, and pregnancy disability leave in the next edition of its handbook that it publishes following adoption of these regulations. In the alternative, the employer may distribute to its employees a copy of its Notice at least annually (distribution may be by electronic mail).
(4) Non-English Speaking Workforce
Any FEHA-covered employer whose work force at any facility or establishment is comprised of ten percent or more persons whose primary language is not English shall translate the notice into the language or languages spoken by this group or these groups of employees. In addition, any FEHA-covered employer shall make a reasonable effort to give either verbal or written notice in the appropriate language to any employee who the employer knows is not proficient in English, and for whom written notice previously has not been given in her primary language, of her rights to pregnancy disability leave, reasonable accommodation, and transfer, once the employer knows the employee is pregnant.
(e) Notice A
Notice A or its equivalent is for employers with less than 50 employees and who are therefore not subject to CFRA or FMLA. An employer may provide a leave policy that is more generous than that required by FEHA if that more generous policy is provided to all similarly situated disabled employees. An employer may develop its own notice or it may choose to use the text provided in section 11051(a), below, unless it does not accurately reflect its own policy.
(f) Notice B
Notice B or its equivalent is for employers with 50 or more employees who are subject to CFRA or FMLA. Notice B combines notice of both an employee's rights regarding pregnancy and CFRA leave rights and satisfies the notice obligations of both this article and section 11095 of the regulations. An employer may develop its own notice or it may choose to use the text provided in section 11051(b), below, unless it does not accurately reflect its own policy.
Authority cited:
Government Code 12935(a)
Reference:
Government Code 12940
Government Code 12945
29 U.S.C. 2601, et seq.
29 C.F.R. 825
(Amended by Register 2013, No. 40.)