On October 16, 2026, the Civil Rights Council proposed revisions to current regulations on California’s Pregnancy Disability Leave law and baby bonding under the California Family Rights Act. If adopted, the regulations will affect any California employer with at least five employees, including part-time employees. The key revisions include expanded accommodation obligations for employers, and more options for employees who intend to continue working while pregnant.
In particular, the proposed revisions will force employers to adjust the interactive process to allow an employee to continue working even if the employee cannot perform all the essential functions of that employee’s job. In effect, if an employee disabled by pregnancy, childbirth or a related condition needs one or more essential functions to be temporarily suspended, the employer must suspend it unless doing so is unreasonable.
The revisions expressly provide that in order to accommodate the pregnancy or related conditions, an employer should consider temporary suspension of essential functions, temporary assignment of new duties, a temporary transfer or participation in a light duty program, remote work, or a change of a worksite.
In addition, if an employee affected by pregnancy or related medical conditions seeks a transfer to a new position, or a disability leave, the employer must respond as soon as practicable. Unnecessary delay could be considered a failure to comply, even if the transfer or leave is ultimately allowed.
The proposed regulations expressly provide that where an employee exhausts pregnancy leave and leave under the California Family Rights Act for baby bonding, the employee may still be entitled to further leave for accommodation of a disability. The regulations cite post-partum depression as an example of a condition that could require this extended leave.
The proposed regulations expressly address medical certification of the need for pregnancy-related accommodations, providing that an employer may require medical certification “only when it is reasonable under the circumstances.” As an example of a situation where it would not be reasonable, the regulations state it would not be reasonable to require medical certification regarding the need for a place to pump or nurse.
To comply with the newly proposed regulations, employers will need to reexamine handbooks, notices and accommodation forms, as many of the detailed requirements now in place will change. Reliance on past practices, even informal ones that seem to benefit employees, will not suffice.
At this point, the regulations remain under review, but if eventually adopted and approved by the Office of Administrative Law, they could go into effect as early as April of 2027. A public hearing on the proposed regulations is set for December 8, 2026. Written comments on the proposal may be submitted to the Civil Rights Council at [email protected]. by December 8, 2026, at 5 pm.
