Colorado Updates State Poster to Include Prohibition on Pregnancy Discrimination and Issues Pregnancy Accommodation Notice

Pursuant to the Colorado Pregnant Workers Fairness Act, it is a discriminatory or unfair employment practice for an employer to fail to provide reasonable accommodations to an applicant or employee who is pregnant, physically recovering from childbirth, or a related condition. The Act also prohibits an employer from taking adverse action against an employee who requests or uses a reasonable accommodation and from denying employment opportunities to an applicant or employee based on the need to make a reasonable accommodation.

The Colorado Civil Rights Division recently updated its Anti-Discrimination poster to identify pregnancy as a protected class.  The agency also released a new Pregnancy Accommodations Notice (“Notice”), which advises of the employer’s obligation to provide reasonable accommodations to covered applicants or employees.  The Notice also lists a scope of requirements for reasonable accommodations. All employers must post a written notice in a conspicuous area of the workplace, and they must also provide notice to new employees at the start of employment and to current employees within 120 days of the Act's August 10, 2016, effective date.