She prayed on the crowded buses and on the subway train that carried her from Queens into the Bronx to the potato-packing plant where she worked.
"Please let me keep my job," she repeated during her two-hour commute. "Please let everything work out."
She punched in at 7:30 a.m. and handed her manager the note. Then Valencia, who was 39 and three months pregnant, went straight to work. Last year, she had a miscarriage. This time, her doctor said, she was once again high risk. No overtime, he ordered, just eight hours a day.
But it was the busy season at the Fierman Produce Exchange and her bosses had told her she had to work overtime. So as Valencia sorted potatoes on that Aug. 8 morning, she worried: How would her supervisors respond to the doctor's note? At the end of her shift, would she still have a job?
This month marks the first anniversary of the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act, which was signed into law by former Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg on Oct. 2, 2013. The law, which went into effect in January, represents a big step forward for working women.
It requires employers to make reasonable accommodations for pregnant workers, such as providing rest and water breaks, modified work schedules and light duty, so long as the accommodations don't cause undue hardship for the employer.
By Ruchi Singh
reporter
Park Sae-jin
swatchsjp@ajunews.com
