Rojgar Job News

On Tuesday, May 23rd, the Connecticut House of Representatives overwhelmingly passed a measure that would greatly expand the already broad anti-discrimination provision that exist under Connecticut law.  The bill, House Bill 6668, would make several substantive changes to the protections including defining what is a “reasonable accommodation” instead of leaving that determination open. I’ve previously written extensively about the state laws covering pregnant employees before (here and here for example) so I encourage you to familiarize yourself with the current law so you can fully understand the contemplated change. But I’ll try to break it down here. Existing law makes it a discriminatory practice to: To terminate a woman’s employment because of her pregnancy; to refuse to grant to that employee a reasonable leave of absence for disability resulting from her pregnancy; to deny to that employee, who is disabled as a result of pregnancy, any compensat...

The laws regarding the protections owed to pregnant employees got far broader a few years back. In fact, the statutory provision prohibiting discrimination against pregnant employees has  eleven key items. Rather than tackle them in separate posts, we’ll “super-size” this post to cover it all. The main law is set forth at Conn. Gen. Stat. Sec. 46a-60(b)(7), though it is to be read in conjunction with the state’s broad anti-discrimination laws. The key prohibitions state that it shall be a “discriminatory employment practice” for an employer (or the employer’s agent): (A) To terminate a woman’s employment because of her pregnancy; (B) to refuse to grant to that employee a reasonable leave of absence for disability resulting from her pregnancy; (C) to deny to that employee, who is disabled as a result of pregnancy, any compensation to which she is entitled as a result of the accumulation of disability or leave benefits accrued pur...

Recently, I saw a skiing dog. Oh, and it was wearing sunglasses too. To be fair (to the dog), it was actually tucked neatly in a backpack while the owner was in line for the chairlift. I didn’t actually see the dog skiing, but you get the picture.  (Which I did capture!) I thought I had seen everything but this was something new. And yet, it perfectly captured for me, a growing trend I’ve been hearing clients asking me about — “Everyone seems to be asking to bring their dogs everywhere. When do I have to allow a dog (or other emotional support animal) in my workplace?” First, to be clear, I’m not talking about service animals — the type that do work or provide some benefit to those who are disabled.  A trained service dog may, for example, be able to spot seizures for those with epilepsy. In such an instance, the ADA requires that employers provide a “reasonable accommodation”; in most instances, the service animal can (and...