As our office previously reported, the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act (“PWFA”) went into effect on June 27, 2023. The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (“EEOC”) began accepting charges at that time, even though it had not issued any regulations. The EEOC issued proposed regulations in August 2023 and stated its intent to finalize the regulations by December 29, 2023, yet it failed to do so. Finally, on April 15, 2024, the EEOC issued its final (and expansive) regulations to implement the PWFA, outlining employer responsibilities under the law and changing very little from the regulations it proposed back in August. Pregnancy and its most common symptoms are generally not considered “disabilities” under the Americans with Disabilities Act (“ADA”) in the absence of significant medical complications. Accordingly, the requirement that employers provide reasonable accommodations under the ADA typically does not apply to pregnant employees. Thus, the enactment of the PWFA. The PWFA applies to any employer with 15 or more employees. It generally requires employers to provide reasonable accommodations, absent undue hardship, to those “with a known limitation” related to or arising out of pregnancy, childbirth, and related medical conditions. “Pregnancy, childbirth, or related medical conditions” is broadly defined in the final regulations to include current pregnancy, past pregnancy, potential pregnancy (including fertility treatments), lactation (including breastfeeding and pumping), use of contraception, hyperemesis gravidarum, menstruation, endometriosis, miscarriage, stillbirth, or abortion, among other conditions. The overarching goal of the PWFA is to enable workers affected by pregnancy and related medical conditions to remain on the job by swiftly providing them with simple accommodations . Some examples of possible reasonable accommodations under the PWFA include: This list just provides some examples; many other reasonable accommodations may exist. A worker may also need different accommodations at different times during the pregnancy or after childbirth. Once an employer knows of a worker’s limitation related to or arising out of pregnancy, childbirth, or related medical condition, it should engage in the “interactive process” with the worker. Like the ADA, the PWFA does not require workers to use specific words to begin the interactive process. Unlike the ADA, however, the PWFA protects workers who are temporarily unable to perform an essential job function due to pregnancy, childbirth, or a related condition – employers may be required to temporarily relieve employees of essential job functions if needed. The final regulations (408 pages in total) cover a wide variety of topics, including the limited scenarios in which an employer may request documentation under the PWFA and four “predictable assessments”, or reasonable accommodations that will not impose an undue hardship on an employer “in virtually all cases.” These include (1) allowing an employee to carry water and drink, as needed, in their work area, (2) allowing an employee additional restroom breaks, (3) allowing an employee whose work requires standing to sit and whose work requires sitting to stand, and (4) allowing an employee breaks, as needed, to eat and drink. These final regulations go into effect on June 18, 2024, sixty days after they are published in the Federal Register. Employers should take the time to familiarize themselves with the regulations in order to ensure compliance with the PWFA. If you have any questions about your obligations under the PWFA, please contact one of the attorneys at FGKS Law.The EEOC Finally Delivers….
………………. its Overdue Regulations Implementing the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act
