Massachusetts Governor Charlie Baker yesterday signed the Pregnant Workers Protection Act (H3680) into law requiring employers in the Commonwealth to make reasonable workplace accommodations for pregnant workers. Under the new law, which hadn’t been able to gain much traction in several past sessions, it is illegal for employers in the state to choose not hire a woman because she is pregnant Massachusetts. Furthermore, employers must make such reasonable accommodations at the request of a pregnant worker as longer or more frequent breaks (whether paid or not), additional time off to recover from childbirth as well as access to a lactation room or transfer to a less strenuous job within the company. Also under the law, which takes effect next April, employers are allowed to deny the requests for accommodation only if they can successfully demonstrate that it would be an “undue hardship on the employer’s program, enterprise or business.” Statewide pregnancy protection bills have been passed and considered in an array of states around the country and we can expect more to follow suit.