This week, a new federal law went into effect in the United States requiring employers to provide “reasonable accommodations” for pregnant and postpartum workers, expanding protections for millions of people.
The law, called the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act, has been in the works for over a decade. It was first introduced in Congress in 2012 and reintroduced in nearly every legislative session since then. The law was finally passed with bipartisan support in December 2022, largely due to the growing awareness of the worsening maternal health outcomes in the country and the lack of support for working mothers.
According to a 2022 survey by the Bipartisan Policy Center, 23% of mothers considered leaving their jobs due to a lack of reasonable accommodations or fear of discrimination. Every year, thousands of pregnant workers file complaints with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission alleging discrimination. According to the agency, at least one-third of the more than 2,000 pregnancy discrimination complaints received last year were based on the lack of reasonable accommodations.
What the new law stipulates
The law applies to employers with 15 or more employees. In addition to covering pregnant employees, it also protects those with “related medical conditions,” including women undergoing fertility treatment, as well as those with postpartum depression and those who have experienced miscarriage or pregnancy loss.
Reasonable accommodations include providing chairs or stools for those who need to stand all day; more breaks for bathroom use; temporary reassignment to lighter duties or those with less exposure to harmful toxins; flexible hours to accommodate morning sickness; and even time off for prenatal appointments and postpartum care. However, the new law left the term “reasonable accommodations” undefined to ensure it is broad enough to apply to a variety of cases based on an employee’s needs, as long as it does not impose “undue hardship” on the business.
Source: The New York Times