Hi Sarah,

There’s an obvious overlap between human rights, health and safety and employment legislation. The NZ Human Rights Commission has a slightly older document which also contains some useful information around pregnancy and H&S in the workplace under the “Health and Safety Issues” section. https://www.hrc.co.nz/files/6814/2378/0069/12-Jun-2005_20-16-44_Pregnancy.pdf

As already touched on above communication and consultation is key. We would carry out a risk assessment with the employee and go through the tasks they carry out day to day. If the need arises we would seek the workers permission to involve a medical professional to provide advice.

It might also be worth while to reemphasis the lines of reporting and communication for reporting general discomfort, incidents or accidents.

And lastly, there are also two useful provisions in the Parental Leave and Employment Protection Act 1987 that state where an employee is unable to perform her work safely, the employer can nominate a start date for parental leave or may temporarily transfer her from one job to another.