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Common Mistakes to Avoid When Your Employee is Expecting
Dec 15, 2025 9:00:00 AM
Making sure you are addressing your employee’s pregnancy appropriately can be a daunting task for an employer. Below we have created a list of basic information to help you avoid mistakes employers commonly make when an employee is pregnant.
1. Common Mistakes When Hiring
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- Asking if a candidate is pregnant (or if they intend to become pregnant)
- Failing to hire a candidate because they are pregnant
- Asking if a candidate is pregnant (or if they intend to become pregnant)
2. Common Mistakes With New Employees
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- Imposing corrective action on (or terminating) a new employee because they didn’t disclose a pregnancy during their interview
- Thinking the employee is not entitled to protected leave because they haven’t been employed for at least 12 months
- Imposing corrective action on (or terminating) a new employee because they didn’t disclose a pregnancy during their interview
3. Common Mistakes During Employment
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- Failing to provide required notices when an employee informs you they are pregnant
- Assuming (without asking) the pregnant employee will be unable to perform certain job duties and changing their work assignment
- Assigning the pregnant employee to light duty because you are concerned about the safety of the unborn baby/employee
- Failing to engage in the interactive process with a pregnant employee to determine reasonable accommodation(s)
- Believing an employee needs to use specific words to request an accommodation or begin the interactive process
- Requesting a doctor’s note to support basic accommodations, such as more frequent breaks for using the restroom, eating, drinking, or sitting/standing
- Forcing a pregnant employee to take a leave of absence when one has not been requested by the employee (or their medical provider)
- Failing to provide an employee with reasonable accommodation(s) when one is requested by the employee and/or their medical provider
- Failing to provide a qualifying pregnant employee with a protected leave of absence (i.e., leave as a reasonable accommodation for pregnancy-related disability, pregnancy disability leave, and/or federal/state family medical leave)
- Failing to provide required notices when an employee informs you they are pregnant
4. During Leave
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- Misunderstanding how a state’s pregnancy disability leave laws (when applicable) interact with federal (and state) family medical leave laws
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- Failing to document the pregnant employee’s leave of absence
- Failing to designate the leave of absence as federal and/or state family medical leave
- Failing to communicate with the pregnant employee during the leave of absence to determine the plan for return to work
- Failing to document the pregnant employee’s leave of absence
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- Assuming a pregnant employee will not return to work following childbirth and filling her position
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- Terminating the pregnant employee because you prefer the work completed by the temporary replacement
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- Terminating the employee after her pregnancy disability leave and/or family medical leave expires without exploring an extended leave of absence as a reasonable accommodation
5. Returning to work
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- Failing to return employee to same position, same schedule, and/or same pay rate she had prior to her pregnancy
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- Failing to allow a breastfeeding employee reasonable time to pump at work
- Requiring the employee to pump in the bathroom
- Failing to provide the employee with a private location to pump
- Failing to allow a breastfeeding employee reasonable time to pump at work
Pregnancy accommodation and leave laws can be tricky, especially when you throw in wage replacement programs, baby bonding, and lactation accommodation requirements.
Questions? Reach out to your FrankAdvice HR Consultant for guidance.
