What Protections Does New Jersey Law Provide for Pregnant Workers?

Pregnancy brings significant changes to a worker’s life, and New Jersey law recognizes that those changes should never cost someone their job, their income, or their workplace standing. South Jersey workers who are pregnant, recovering from childbirth, or dealing with related medical conditions are protected by state and federal laws that go well beyond what many employees realize.

Employment attorney Chris Keating helps workers throughout South Jersey understand what these protections mean in practice and what to do when an employer fails to honor them.

State and Federal Protections Working Together

New Jersey offers some of the strongest pregnancy-related workplace protections in the country, and they operate alongside federal law to create overlapping layers of coverage.

The New Jersey Law Against Discrimination (NJLAD)

This law prohibits employers from discriminating against workers on the basis of sex, disability, pregnancy, childbirth, or related medical conditions. It applies to virtually all New Jersey employers regardless of size, which is broader than most federal laws, and means that even workers at small businesses are covered.

The New Jersey Pregnant Workers Fairness Act (NJPWFA)

This law strengthened NJLAD’s accommodation mandates, requiring employers to provide reasonable accommodations for pregnancy-related conditions unless doing so would cause undue hardship. Importantly, New Jersey law places the burden on the employer to engage in a good-faith interactive process. An employer cannot simply refuse without demonstrating that accommodation is genuinely impractical.

Federal Pregnant Workers Fairness Act (PWFA)

This law took effect in June 2023, requiring covered employers with 15 or more employees to provide reasonable accommodations for known limitations related to pregnancy, childbirth, or related medical conditions. The federal PWFA filled a significant gap in prior federal law and now works in tandem with New Jersey’s protections.

Reasonable Accommodations Employers May Be Required to Provide

Under both state and federal law, reasonable accommodations for pregnant workers can include a wide range of adjustments depending on the individual’s medical needs and job responsibilities. Common examples include:

• Additional restroom or water breaks
• Temporary modification of lifting or physical duties
• Schedule adjustments for prenatal appointments
• Temporary reassignment of strenuous or hazardous tasks
• Seating or ergonomic modifications
• Modified or reduced hours when medically necessary
• Remote work arrangements when appropriate

An employer who denies a requested accommodation must first engage in a genuine interactive process and demonstrate that the accommodation would cause undue hardship. An outright refusal without any interactive process is a red flag and may constitute a violation of New Jersey law.

Leave Protections for Pregnant and Postpartum Workers

Beyond accommodations, New Jersey law provides several avenues for protected leave during and after pregnancy:

• The New Jersey Family Leave Act (NJFLA) provides up to 12 weeks of job-protected leave in a 24-month period for workers at employers with 30 or more employees. This leave can be used following the birth of a child or to care for a newly adopted child, and the employee is entitled to return to the same or an equivalent position. As of July 17, 2026, NJFLA will apply to private employers with 15 or more employees, and the minimum employment period for eligibility will decrease from twelve months to three months.
• New Jersey Family Leave Insurance (NJFLI) provides partial wage replacement for workers taking leave to bond with a new child. NJFLI is a state-run insurance program that workers contribute to through payroll deductions, and it is separate from job protection, meaning a worker may receive NJFLI benefits even if their employer is too small to be covered by the NJFLA.
• Temporary Disability Insurance (TDI) covers pregnancy-related disability before and immediately after birth, providing partial wage replacement when a worker is medically unable to perform their job duties due to pregnancy or childbirth recovery. TDI is often used in combination with NJFLI to extend the overall period of leave with some wage replacement.
• The federal Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) provides an additional 12 weeks of job-protected, unpaid leave for workers at employers with 50 or more employees and applies to pregnancy-related serious health conditions as well as bonding with a newborn.

What to Do If Your South Jersey Employer Refuses to Comply

If your employer has denied a request for a reasonable accommodation, interfered with your leave rights, or treated you differently because of your pregnancy, those actions may constitute violations of New Jersey law. Employment law attorney Chris Keating works with pregnant and postpartum workers throughout South Jersey to evaluate the facts, identify which protections apply, and pursue the appropriate legal remedies.

Call Keating Law Firm at 856-519-5011 or contact the firm online to schedule a free and confidential consultation.