If a pregnant employee’s doctor advises her to ask for a less strenuous position, the employer must accommodate this request. As long as it does not “unduly burden” the employer, he or she must meet the request. Some examples of reasonable accommodations for pregnant workers include: Allowing the employee to work from home Temporarily reassigning them to other tasks Allowing the employee to sit during their shift Reducing or eliminating heavy lifting If an employer usually accommodates employees who are “similar in ability or inability to work,” they must provide the same accommodations to pregnant employees. Similarly, employers that allow temporarily disabled employees to take disability leave, or unpaid leave, must allow the same for pregnant employees.  FMLA According to the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA), new parents (including adoptive parents) who have worked at their company for 12 months or more are eligible for up to 12 weeks of leave. This applies to foster parents as well. The company must have at least 15 employees for this to apply. Whether the leave is paid or unpaid depends on the employment contract.  Under the FMLA, pregnant employees receive a maximum of 12 weeks of leave for time off needed before, during, and after the birth of the child. Adoptive parents receive the same rights.  Undue Burden Undue burden measures the amount of trouble, including monetary expenditures, loss of business, and supervision requirements it takes for an employer to effectuate a given accommodation. For instance, it usually is not unduly burdensome for an employer to modify a woman's job duties or change her assignment to accommodate her pregnancy.