Bill > HB409

This bill, titled the Pregnant Worker Accommodation Act, amends existing New Mexico law to prohibit discrimination against pregnant employees by requiring employers to provide reasonable accommodations for their pregnancies. Specifically, it makes it unlawful for an employer to deny a pregnant employee's request for a reasonable accommodation, which is defined as a change in the work environment or job performance that enables the employee to perform essential job functions, if the request is medically advisable and does not cause an "undue hardship" for the employer. An undue hardship is defined as an accommodation that would require significant difficulty or expense for the employer, considering factors like the cost of the accommodation, the employer's financial resources, and the size and type of its business. The bill also mandates that employers and pregnant employees engage in a good-faith interactive process to identify and implement accommodations, outlines procedures for medical certification of the need for accommodation, and sets timelines for employer responses to accommodation requests. It clarifies that employers cannot deny, refuse to renew, or terminate a pregnant employee's health care coverage due to pregnancy. The bill defines "employer" as an entity employing twenty or more employees and "health care provider" as a licensed individual providing health care.