There are two laws to pay attention to when you’re having difficulties with attitudes or comments from your co-workers and employers. Pregnancy discrimination laws protect you from many things.

Few pregnancies are exactly alike. You could have one pregnancy that goes well, but the next requires you to take it a little easier. You may need to sit down more and avoid lifting heavy items. If your doctor recommends you back off certain duties of your job, your employer cannot discriminate. It’s not any different to it being illegal for your employer telling a worker with a back injury or broken arm to keep performing the same tasks.

These are all examples of situations where the Pregnancy Discrimination Act is being violated:

• Your boss or co-workers make rude or hurtful comments about your pregnancy or your need to take time off due to complications or after you’ve given birth.
• Your boss or co-workers harass you because you’re pregnant.
• Your employer refuses to accommodate you during your pregnancy. For example, you need to go to the bathroom frequently due to pressure on the bladder, but your boss starts refusing to let you leave your desk until a certain amount of time has passed.
• Your employer fires you over someone else simply because of your pregnancy.
• An employer refuses to hire or promote you because of your pregnancy.
• Your employer keeps cutting the hours you work, without your request, because of your pregnancy.
• You’re demoted to a different job and/or pay level because you’re pregnant.
• Your employer or co-workers make rude or hurtful comments about needing time to pump milk/use a breast pump. If you’re fired or treated differently because of your need to pump milk for your newborn, that’s also discrimination that’s covered under pregnancy discrimination laws.
• Your employer denies you the opportunity to return to your job after your maternity leave ends.

There’s also the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) that guarantees you up to 12 weeks of unpaid time off with your newborn. Fathers are entitled to this same benefit. FMLA covers employees as long as they’ve been at that job for 12 months, have at least 1,250 hours of work in over that 12-month period, and work for a company that has 50 or more employees within a 75-mile area. This law could help you manage unfair requests that you shorten your maternity leave.