Pregnancy Accommodations: Delaware

This Pregnancy Accommodations policy applies to employees in Delaware under Delaware's Discrimination in Employment Act (DDEA), including its pregnancy-related protections and reasonable accommodation requirements in 19 Del. C. § 711 and 19 Del. C. § 711A, and related enforcement provisions in 19 Del. C. § 716. It helps you set clear, employee-friendly expectations for requesting and providing reasonable accommodations for pregnancy, childbirth, and related conditions, including engaging in a timely interactive process, avoiding forced leave when an accommodation would keep someone working, and prohibiting discrimination or retaliation tied to pregnancy accommodations.

The History Behind Pregnancy Accommodations Policies in Delaware

Workplace Accommodations for pregnancy grew out of a long gap between what the law banned and what workplaces actually did. Federal law covered pregnancy discrimination in 1978 through the Pregnancy Discrimination Act, and later the ADA covered some pregnancy-related impairments, but many employees still got stuck with a choice to either take leave or not do the job. The U.S. Supreme Court's 2015 decision in Young v. United Parcel Service pushed employers and courts to take a harder look at light duty and other adjustments when an employer accommodated other workers with similar work limits.

Delaware tightened expectations with the Delaware Discrimination in Employment Act (DDEA). Delaware law bars pregnancy-related discrimination and requires reasonable accommodations for pregnancy, childbirth, and related conditions, unless doing so would create an undue hardship. Delaware also makes retaliation unlawful, which matters because accommodation requests often happen in the middle of performance management, scheduling disputes, or safety concerns.

Employers started writing clearer pregnancy accommodation policies because the compliance target moved from "treat pregnancy the same" to "do the interactive process and try to make work doable." That shift also tracked what HR teams were seeing: more requests for temporary schedule changes, extra breaks, lifting limits, and lactation-related needs, plus more awareness of postpartum and fertility-related conditions. A written policy became the practical way to keep decisions consistent across managers and locations, and to document the good-faith steps Delaware and federal law now expect.

Which Law is the Pregnancy Accommodations Policy Meant to Comply With?

If you create and distribute a Pregnancy Accommodations Policy for your Delaware-based employees, it is in an effort to comply with Delaware's Delaware Discrimination in Employment Act (19 Del. C. § 711), Pregnancy accommodations requirements (19 Del. C. § 711A), and enforcement provisions (19 Del. C. § 716).

How to Write a Delaware-Specific Pregnancy Accommodations Policy

• Start with "why" and introduce the concept, your organization provides reasonable accommodations for pregnancy, childbirth, and related conditions to support employee health and safety.
• Define the scope of covered conditions, including physical and mental pregnancy-related conditions and related reproductive health needs.
• Explain the reasonable accommodation commitment and the undue hardship limit.
• List representative accommodation options employees can request.
• Describe the request and interactive process at a high level, including good-faith collaboration to identify an effective accommodation.
• State that employees will not be forced to take leave when an accommodation would allow them to keep working.
• Include a non-discrimination and non-retaliation statement for requesting, using, or participating in the accommodation process.
• Clarify that your organization will follow the law that provides the greatest benefit when overlapping requirements apply in Delaware.

When to Include this Policy in Your Employee Handbook

If you have employees in Delaware and you don't have a similar policy that's available for all US employees, you should include this policy in your employee handbook for Delaware-based employees. 

19 Del. C. § 716 states: 

(a) Every employer, employment agency and labor organization, as the case may be, shall post and keep posted in conspicuous places upon its premises where notices to employees, and applicants for employment are customarily posted, a notice to be prepared or approved by the Department setting forth excerpts from or summaries of the pertinent provisions of this subchapter and subchapter III of this chapter and information pertinent to the filing of a complaint.

 

(b)

1. An employer shall provide notice of the right to be free from discrimination in relation to pregnancy, childbirth, and related conditions, including the right to reasonable accommodation to known limitations related to pregnancy, childbirth, and related conditions, pursuant to § 711(b)(3) of this title as follows:
   1. In writing to new employees at the commencement of employment;
   2. Orally or in writing to existing employees by January 7, 2015; and
   3. Orally or in writing to any employee who notifies the employer of her pregnancy within 10 days of such notification.
2. The notice required by paragraph (b)(1) of this section shall also be conspicuously posted at an employer's place of business in an area accessible to employees.

 

(c) A wilful violation of this section shall be punishable by a fine of not more than $100 for each separate offense.

Your employee handbook is a great place to put this information alongside any official posters.

Other Considerations

The law applies to Delaware employers who have at least 4 employees working in Delaware.

Exceptions

None.