Pregnancy Discrimination Act of 1978

• Summary: This act was an amendment to the Civil Rights Act of 1964 to prevent discrimination on the basis of pregnancy (1).
• When It Took Effect: 1978
• Implications of the Law: Those that are pregnant, or dealing with medical conditions due to pregnancy, can not be discriminated against when it comes to employment or issues within the workplace (1).
• Protections Under the Law: Women who are pregnant or women who have medical issues due to a pregnancy or childbirth will be treated as all other employees when it comes to all areas of employment including things like benefits (1). Employees do not need to pay health benefits
• Who it Applies to: Women who are or were pregnant

Recommendations to Improve this Law

• Add in an amendment stating that pregnant women can not be discriminated against when it comes to the process of hiring a new employee.
• Woman can not be fired due to taking time off for complications due to pregnancy

Sources:

(1) - https://www.eeoc.gov/laws/statutes/pregnancy.cfm

Step-by-step explanation

Above are my suggestions on how the pregnancy discrimination act of 1978 could be improved. Currently, this act seems to only apply to those already working within a company. I would suggest that a company could not refuse to hire someone on the basis of being pregnant. I could see where a company would want to do this, as the employee will be taking time off to have the baby, but that is no different than a current employee taking time off for maternity leave. I provided a link in the sources section to the amendment just in case you want to read the technical working.