Hi everyone! Welcome to the HR Monthly Round Up. In the next few minutes, we'll review the latest in HR news.

On August 11, just six weeks after the federal Pregnant Workers Fairness Act took effect, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission published its proposed regulations. While the rules are not finalized, they show how the EEOC expects employers to comply with the new law.

Employers with 15 or more employees need to be ready for a wider variety of workplace accommodation requests regarding pregnancy and related medical conditions, like fertility treatments. Reasonable accommodations could include more frequent breaks, job restructuring, or a modified work schedule, for example.

In other news, following a recent ruling by the National Labor Relations Board, U.S. employers must take a serious look at company policies.

The board's August 2 decision in Stericycle Inc. adopted a new employee-friendly standard for determining the legality of work rules, like limits on using company equipment for personal communication or posting on social media.

Basically, the ruling presumes that an employer's policy is unlawful if the policy could be reasonably seen as a way to chill employee rights under the National Labor Relations Act.

In state news, Illinois has been busy expanding a few state employment laws that take effect January 1. First, if an employee has a family or household member killed in a violent crime, the employee may take leave regarding funeral arrangements and to grieve.

Second, Illinois also expanded the reasons employees may take bereavement leave. The Child Extended Bereavement Leave Act will entitle full-time employees who have worked for a company for at least two weeks to unpaid, job-protected leave due to the loss of a child by suicide or homicide.

That's all the HR news we have time for today. For more information on these topics, click the content links in the transcript below. Thanks for watching. See you next month!