June 27 marked the effective date of a new federal law concerning pregnant employees. The Pregnant Workers Fairness Act (PWFA) requires covered employers to provide reasonable accommodations to a worker’s known limitations related to pregnancy, childbirth, or related medical conditions, unless the accommodation will cause the employer an undue hardship.

Enforcement of the law falls to the U.S. Equal Opportunity Employment Commission (EEOC), which has posted a Frequently-Asked-Questions (FAQ) resource.

The PWFA protects employees and applicants of covered employers who have known limitations related to pregnancy, childbirth, or related medical conditions. Covered employers include private and public sector employers with at least 15 employees, Congress, Federal agencies, employment agencies, and labor organizations.

Congress directed the EEOC to issue regulations relating to this law, including examples of reasonable accommodations that might address known limitations related to pregnancy, childbirth, or related medical conditions, but the Commission hasn’t done so yet.  This delay in rulemaking does not delay the June 27 effective date.

In the meantime, the FAQ resource linked above identifies examples of possible reasonable accommodations employers might consider, including the ability to sit or drink water; receive closer parking; have flexible hours; receive appropriately sized uniforms and safety apparel; receive additional break time to use the bathroom, eat, and rest; take leave or time off to recover from childbirth; and be excused from strenuous activities and/or activities that involve exposure to compounds not safe for pregnancy.

Among other requirements, the EEOC states that covered employers cannot require an employee to accept an accommodation without a discussion between the worker and the employer about the accommodation, or require an employee to take leave if another reasonable accommodation can be provided that would let the employee keep working.

LeadingAge is preparing a detailed summary of the law to supplement the limited information available from the EEOC, and we will make that available for members soon.