The new Pregnant Workers Fairness Act helps employees with pregnancy-related health conditions by ensuring they’re offered fair accommodations at work that allow them to continue to work without penalty due to their condition. This new law mandates employers to provide “reasonable accommodations” for a worker’s known limitations due to pregnancy, childbirth, or “related” medical conditions unless the accommodation will cause the employer an “undue hardship.”

What PWFA means to workers

The law is intended to end discrimination against employees whose ability to perform at work is affected by pregnancy, childbirth, or a related medical condition such as postpartum depression or abortion.

The law went into effect in June 2024 and applies only to accommodations for workers who are themselves pregnant, who may get pregnant, or who may have been pregnant—it does not apply to their partners or co-parents.

The definition for this protected class also includes workers who may be getting an abortion or who’ve recently had an abortion. Types of organizations it affects include all public and private companies with 15 or more employees.

So, an employer must allow reasonable accommodations not only for a worker who’s experiencing symptoms from pregnancy that require accommodation—such as more frequent and longer bathroom breaks or a later start time to account for morning sickness—but also for those who are getting or recently had an abortion. Another instance of necessary accommodation for employees in this regard might include providing a safety coat or other protective equipment worn at work that fits the employee’s larger size during or after pregnancy.

Some took issue with the abortion provision when this new law was proposed. Now, such an employer-provided worker accommodation might include time off needed for an employee to undergo the procedure or recover.

However, the new provision provides that some employers may be exempt from following the new law if they would suffer “undue hardship” as a result. This might include employers who put a worker on leave because the employee can no longer perform the job duties properly and could jeopardize co-workers when attempting to do the work.

PWFA builds on existing federal laws

Preexisting U.S. federal law prohibits employers from discriminating against this class of employees. The Pregnancy Discrimination Act and the Americans with Disability Act protect these workers, and the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act builds on those statutes.

Workers are protected against pregnancy-based discrimination and harassment at work under federal law and may have a right to work changes, enabling them to do their jobs without jeopardizing their health.  

Under the Pregnancy Discrimination Act, employers are not allowed to discriminate against an employee based on specific medical conditions. An employee cannot be rejected for a job or promotion, given lesser assignments, forced to take leave, or fired based upon the fact that:

• The employee is pregnant
• The employee was pregnant
• The employee could become pregnant or plans to become pregnant
• The employee has a medical condition that is related to pregnancy
• The employee had an abortion or is considering having an abortion

An employer does not have to keep a person in a job where they cannot do it or in which an employee performing the job would pose a significant safety risk to others. That provision has its limits, though, in terms of worker protection. 

An employer also cannot remove an employee from a job or put an employee on leave because the employer thinks the work will pose a risk to the employee or the employee’s pregnancy.