Pregnant Workers’ Fairness Act Introduced in Congress

On May 8, 2012, the Pregnant Workers’ Fairness Act (PWFA) was introduced in Congress.  The bill, if passed into law, would guarantee pregnant women the right to reasonable accommodation for pregnancy and related conditions, as long as the accommodation does not impose an undue hardship on the employer.

Most employers are already well aware of the existing state and federal laws which operate to protect pregnant employees. The FMLA and Ohio state law requires that employers subject to the laws provide unpaid leave for childbirth.  The Pregnancy Discrimination Act of 1978 mandates that employers must treat pregnant employees at least as well as they treat other temporarily disabled employees.  However, the Pregnancy Discrimination Act does not require that employers provide reasonable accommodation if it is not offered to other employees.

The PWFA focuses on the lack of a meaningful right of accommodation for pregnant women under existing law.  As introduced, the bill makes it unlawful for employers to refuse to make reasonable accommodations to the known limitations related to the pregnancy, childbirth, or related medical conditions of a job applicant or employee without demonstrating undue hardship.  It would also make it unlawful to force a pregnant employee to take leave if another reasonable accommodation can be provided.  The PWFA would be administered as part of Title VII, which means it would apply to employers with 15 or more employees. It is not clear at this time whether the PWFA will be passed into law.  We will continue to keep you updated as this bill makes its way through Congress.