THE PREGNANT WORKERS FAIRNESS ACT: IS YOUR WORKPLACE READY FOR PREGNANCY ACCOMMODATIONS? PART 1 OF 2

While Title VII, the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA), and the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) already offer some protections for pregnant workers, the new federal Pregnant Workers Fairness Act (PWFA) fills in some key gaps. In a nutshell, it tells employers to treat pregnancy-related conditions as temporary disabilities that qualify for accommodations – no need for the pregnant employee to prove a separate ADA-qualifying disability. The PWFA requires employers to offer a broad range of potential accommodations like modified work schedules, lifting assistance, additional food and bathroom breaks, temporary reassignment, and more. It also requires accommodating conditions related to pregnancy, such as menstruation, miscarriage, and abortion. As with the ADA, employers can deny an accommodation under the PWFA if it would cause an undue hardship. The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) issued its final PWFA rules on April 15, 2024. They take effect on June 18, 2024. To understand employers’ new obligations under the PWFA and how they differ from those under the ADA, read on. 

THE BACKSTORY

Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 (Title VII), as originally enacted, prohibited sex discrimination. But it didn’t say anything about pregnancy, despite widespread discrimination against women who were or could become pregnant. It took the 1978 Pregnancy Discrimination Act, amending Title VII, to make discrimination based on pregnancy, childbirth, or related medical conditions unlawful. The 1993 Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) allows eligible pregnant employees and their spouses to use its job-protected leave provisions to cover pre-natal appointments and to take up to twelve weeks of leave to bond with a newborn. The ADA provides no protection for pregnant employees since pregnancy itself is not a disability.

Enter the PWFA, making it unlawful for employers to deny reasonable accommodations to known pregnancy or childbirth limitations or limitations from related medical conditions – unless the accommodation would pose an undue hardship on the employer’s operations. While the PWFA borrows concepts like “reasonable accommodation” and “undue hardship” from the ADA, there are crucial differences employers must understand to comply with the new regulations.