Florida Senate - 2021                                     SB 384
       
       
        
       By Senator Rodriguez
       
       
       
       
       
       39-00682-21                                            2021384__
    1                        A bill to be entitled                      
    2         An act relating to unlawful employment practices;
    3         amending s. 760.02, F.S.; defining terms; amending s.
    4         760.10, F.S.; expanding the list of unlawful
    5         employment practices to include certain actions
    6         against employees and job applicants with medical
    7         needs related to pregnancy; requiring employers to
    8         provide a written notice of certain rights relating to
    9         pregnancy to employees and to post such notice in
   10         conspicuous places on the premises; requiring the
   11         Florida Commission on Human Relations to develop
   12         certain education and outreach programs; providing
   13         construction; providing an effective date.
   14  
   15  Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
   16  
   17         Section 1. Subsections (12), (13), and (14) are added to
   18  section 760.02, Florida Statutes, to read:
   19         760.02 Definitions.—For the purposes of ss. 760.01-760.11
   20  and 509.092, the term:
   21         (12)“Pregnancy” means pregnancy, childbirth, or related
   22  conditions, including, but not limited to, lactation or the
   23  expression of breast milk.
   24         (13)“Reasonable accommodation” means making reasonable
   25  changes in the workplace, including, but not limited to,
   26  providing more frequent or longer breaks; assistance with manual
   27  labor; temporary job restructuring; temporary modification in
   28  work schedules, seating, or equipment; temporary relief from
   29  lifting requirements; temporary transfer to less strenuous or
   30  less hazardous work; reasonable time off to recover from
   31  childbirth; and reasonable private, non-restroom space for
   32  lactation or the expression of breast milk.
   33         (14)“Undue hardship” means an accommodation requiring
   34  significant difficulty or expense when considered in light of
   35  the following factors:
   36         (a)The nature, cost, and duration of the accommodation.
   37         (b)The overall financial resources of the employer.
   38         (c)The overall size of the business of the employer with
   39  respect to the number of employees and the number, type, and
   40  location of the employer’s facilities.
   41         (d)The effect on expenses and resources or any other
   42  impacts of such accommodation on the employer’s operation.
   43         Section 2. Present subsections (9) and (10) of section
   44  760.10, Florida Statutes, are redesignated as subsections (12)
   45  and (13), respectively, and paragraph (c) is added to subsection
   46  (1) and new subsections (9), (10), and (11) are added to that
   47  section, to read:
   48         760.10 Unlawful employment practices.—
   49         (1) It is an unlawful employment practice for an employer:
   50         (c)1.To fail to make reasonable accommodations, upon
   51  request, for an employee with a medical need related to
   52  pregnancy, unless the employer can demonstrate that the
   53  accommodation would impose an undue hardship on the operation of
   54  the employer’s business. If an employer’s policy requires
   55  similar accommodations to be made, or if similar accommodations
   56  have been made in the past or are currently being made for other
   57  employees for any reason, there is a rebuttable presumption that
   58  the accommodation does not impose an undue hardship on the
   59  employer.
   60         2.To deny employment opportunities to an otherwise
   61  qualified job applicant or employee, if such denial is based on
   62  the employer’s need to make reasonable accommodations for the
   63  applicant or employee because of a medical need related to
   64  pregnancy.
   65         3.To require an employee to take leave because of a
   66  medical need related to pregnancy if another reasonable
   67  accommodation can be provided.
   68         4.To take adverse action against an employee in the terms,
   69  conditions, or privileges of employment for requesting or using
   70  a reasonable accommodation. For purposes of this subparagraph,
   71  the term “adverse action” includes, but is not limited to,
   72  failing to reinstate an employee to her original position, or an
   73  equivalent position, with equivalent pay, seniority, and
   74  benefits after the need for such accommodation ceases or
   75  counting an employee’s absences from work due to a medical need
   76  related to pregnancy against the employee under the employer’s
   77  no-fault attendance policy.
   78  
   79  This paragraph does not require an employer to create additional
   80  employment opportunities that the employer would not otherwise
   81  have created or to discharge an employee, transfer an employee
   82  who has more seniority, or promote an employee who is not
   83  qualified for the position unless the employer has a policy for
   84  doing so for other classes of employees who have a right to
   85  accommodations.
   86         (9)(a)An employer shall provide written notice of the
   87  right to be free from discrimination in relation to pregnancy,
   88  including the right to reasonable accommodations, to:
   89         1.New employees at the commencement of employment.
   90         2.Existing employees no later than November 1, 2021.
   91         3.Any employee who notifies an employer of her pregnancy
   92  within 10 days after such notification.
   93         (b)An employer shall post a written notice in conspicuous
   94  places on its premises of the right to be free from
   95  discrimination in relation to a medical need related to
   96  pregnancy, including the right to reasonable accommodations.
   97         (10)The commission shall develop education and outreach
   98  programs as necessary to inform employers, employees, and job
   99  applicants about their rights and responsibilities under
  100  paragraph (1)(c).
  101         (11)This section may not be construed to preempt, limit,
  102  diminish, or otherwise affect any employer policy or provision
  103  or other provision of law relating to sex or pregnancy
  104  discrimination or in any way diminish the coverage for pregnancy
  105  under any other provision of this chapter.
  106         Section 3. This act shall take effect July 1, 2021.