Pregnant California correctional officers would be offered light duty under proposed law
A California lawmaker has introduced legislation that would force the state’s prison system to offer light duty for pregnant correctional officers.
Assemblyman Rudy Salas, D-Bakersfield, proposed the change after six female correctional officers sued the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation last year over the department’s pregnancy policies.
The women said they had little choice but to keep working through their pregnancies, despite the hardships and risks of responding to inmate violence and climbing up and down stairs wearing heavy gear for hours at a time.
The only other options under the department’s policies are to take a leave of absence and lose pay or switch to a different position and risk losing peace officer certification, which can compromise their future in public safety.
The department’s policy differs from those of the federal Bureau of Prisons and other state and local law enforcement agencies, which let women transfer temporarily to positions with lighter workloads without losing seniority.
The corrections department used to accommodate pregnant women with temporary assignments, but stopped doing so in 2015. The department hasn’t explained why.
In September, a Los Angeles County Superior Court judge ordered the prisons to offer the six women accommodations but hasn’t issued a broader ruling.
At the time, a spokeswoman for the corrections department said officials were evaluating policies.
Salas’s proposal, introduced last week as Assembly Bill 1906, would require the corrections department to institute a policy allowing pregnant officers to “perform alternate, light duty assignments, subject to a medical certification that establishes the nature of pregnancy-related limitations.”
The bill would mandate the women would remain eligible for promotions and pay raises during their pregnancies.
The bill would require Cal HR to draft a policy by May 1, 2021 and the corrections department to adopt it by July 1, 2021.