§ 41.103. Employment benefits and security during disability.
(a) Temporary disability due to pregnancy or childbirth. Written and unwritten employment practices and policies regarding job benefits and job security, including, but not limited to, commencement and duration of leave, the availability of extensions, the accrual of seniority and other benefits and privileges, reinstatement and payment under any health or temporary disability insurance or sick leave plan, formal or informal, shall be applied to disability due to pregnancy or childbirth on the same terms and conditions as they are applied to other temporary disabilities.
(b) Permanent disability due to pregnancy or childbirth. Written and unwritten employment practices and policies regarding job benefits and job security, including, but not limited to, commencement and duration of leave, the availability of extensions, the accrual of seniority and other benefits and privileges, reinstatement and payment under a health or disability insurance or sick leave plan, formal or informal, shall be applied to permanent disability due to pregnancy or childbirth on the same terms and conditions as they are applied to other permanent disabilities.
(c) Other. Mandatory maternity leave policies which require a pregnant employe to take leave automatically at a specified time during pregnancy or to remain away from work after she has recovered from her disability are in violation of the Pennsylvania Human Relations Act (43 P.S. § § 951—963). An employer shall accept the determination of a pregnant employe’s physician regarding pregnancy-related disabilities where it accepts the medical judgment regarding other disabilities.
Source The provisions of this § 41.103 adopted May 16, 1975, effective May 17, 1975, 5 Pa.B. 1298.
Notes of Decisions The extension of an employe’s pregnancy leave of absence because of the medical necessity of breastfeeding her child is an extension for disability or pregnancy purposes rather than for childrearing purposes, since a medical need for the physical presence of the parent is different from a psychological or emotional need of the child. Board of School Directors of Fox Chapel Area School District v. Rossetti, 387 A.2d 957 (Pa. Cmwlth. 1978).
Exclusion of pregnancy and childbirth from the coverage of an employe disability compensation plan through a policy or practice of the employer does not constitute sexual discrimination due to the terms or conditions of the plan, as exempted from the Pennsylvania Human Relations Act (43 P. S. § 955(a)), and may be the basis for an action against the employer. Lukus v. Westinghouse Electric Corp., 419 A.2d 431 (Pa. Super. 1980).
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