On December 29, 2022, President Bident signed into law the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act (“PWFA”). Title VII of the Civil Rights Act, as amended by the Pregnancy Discrimination Act in 1978, prohibits sex discrimination, including pregnancy discrimination, but does not require employers to provide reasonable accommodations to employees. Relatedly, the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) prohibits discrimination against applicants and employees based on a disability, including a pregnancy-related disability, and imposes requirements for providing reasonable accommodations. However, pregnancy itself is not a disability under the ADA. The PWFA, modeled after the ADA, fills what many have viewed as a long-standing gap between these preexisting federal laws by requiring covered employers to make reasonable accommodations to the known limitations related to an employee or applicant’s pregnancy, childbirth, or related medical condition.
Under the PWFA:
- Covered employers are defined as an employer with 15 or more employees
- Effective date – June 27, 2023 – 180 days after the date of enactment
- Like the ADA, the PWFA requires employers to engage in the “interactive process” with employees to determine whether an effective and reasonable accommodation is available
- PWFA includes an exception where an employer can demonstrate that providing an accommodation would impose an undue hardship on business operations
- Employers cannot require a qualified employee to take leave, whether paid or unpaid, if another reasonable accommodation can be provided
- Employers cannot deny employment opportunities or otherwise take adverse action on terms, conditions, or privileges of employment against a qualified employee on account of them requesting or using a reasonable accommodation
- Both state law and/or municipal ordinances may provide greater protections to employees related to discrimination, accommodations, and unpaid and paid job-protected leave