"The law creates pregnancy as a protected classification under Illinois law," said Amy Blaisdell, a labor and employment attorney in who practices in Missouri and Illinois. "That means women who are pregnant who are applying for jobs or who are employed in the state of Illinois, private employers included, are protected from discrimination as well as retaliation for requesting accommodation."

The law entitles women to those accommodations, which Blaisdell said include lifting restrictions for women who perform manual labor, additional break time, and leave time for pregnancy or related conditions.

Blaisdell said the state law was drafted to look similar to federal law, which already requires protections for employees who have a pregnancy that's disabling. She said the law applies to all employers, regardless of the size of the business.

She said, based on where a woman works, she may or may not even notice a difference with new law.

"One example is patient care, so you have to be able to lift and move around a patient. This could impact somebody who works in a hospital or health care setting, or works in a factory setting and needs some type of accommodation to be able to stay in the workforce," she explained.

Blaisdell also works to educate businesses about how to implement the new law. She said most companies want to the do the right thing, but language in the law presents some challenges.

"The law protects individuals who are pregnant, or have experienced childbirth, or have other medical or common conditions associated with pregnancy or childbirth. And that's a big question mark, as to what does that mean - does that protect a woman who's not yet pregnant but trying to conceive? So that's an areas some employers really need some guidance in," she said.

"The second is the 'duty to accommodate.' There's language in the law that an employer can not require an employee or applicant to accept accommodation that they didn't request or they just don't agree to," she continued.

"The dialogue between the employer and the employee about what is 'reasonable,' and here, it really puts employees in the drivers seat and puts employers at a little bit of disadvantage -- particularly small employers who have a limited workforce to cover the work that needs to get done."

Blaisdell said Illinois employers are required to post a notice about the new law in the workplace and employee handbooks.

(Published by KSDK – January 3, 2015)