In Depth: Greensboro Lawyer Explains What New Federal Pregnancy Guidelines Mean For You

Pregnant women now have more protections in the workplace, under new federal guidelines issued last month.

It's the first time the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, or EEOC, has done a comprehensive update in over 30 years.  Now, both employees and businesses are figuring out what this means for them.

Nicole Crawford, a labor and employment attorney in the Greensboro office of Brooks Pierce, tells WFDD's Keri Brown that the new guidelines build on long established pregnancy laws, but also incorporate protections under the Americans with Disabilities Act.

“When a business has an employee who has to go on bed rest, or has to go to more than one appointment on more than a regular basis for her pregnancy or a condition related to her pregnancy, businesses now have to accommodate that instead of saying you have to follow our absence policy or do what our normal practices are.” says Crawford. “Businesses have to start treating pregnancy like a regular condition.”