New Requirements

The Department of Labor (DOL) recently announced an important update that employers should take note of. The Pregnant Workers Fairness Act (PWFA) now requires covered employers to provide reasonable accommodations for qualified employees or applicants with known limitations related to pregnancy, childbirth, or related medical conditions, as long as it doesn’t create undue hardship for the business.

You might be thinking that the PFWA sounds a lot like the ADA, and you’re not wrong. Both laws require employers to accommodate “qualified” individuals, meaning they can perform essential job functions with or without accommodations. However, the PWFA expands this to include pregnant workers who temporarily can’t perform some essential job functions, as long as they could do so in the near future and the employer can make reasonable accommodations.

 What does “known limitation” mean? It refers to any physical or mental condition linked to pregnancy, childbirth, or related medical issues that the employee or their representative has informed the employer about, regardless of whether it meets the ADA’s definition of a disability.

 So, what does a reasonable accommodation look like under the PWFA? It could involve temporarily suspending one or more essential job functions, with or without reassignment, so the employee can handle the rest of their tasks. For example, if a pregnant warehouse worker can’t lift heavy boxes, they could be assigned lighter duties like organizing inventory.

Known Limitation: any physical or mental condition linked to pregnancy, childbirth, or related medical issues that the employee or their representative has informed the employer about, regardless of whether it meets the ADA’s definition of a disability.

Or you can just not stay current on the law…. Juries love pregnant women… and babies.