{"id":13955,"date":"2023-06-12T09:35:08","date_gmt":"2023-06-12T13:35:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/gtm.com\/business\/?p=13955"},"modified":"2023-06-12T09:35:08","modified_gmt":"2023-06-12T13:35:08","slug":"pregnant-workers-fairness-act-pwfa","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/gtm.com\/business\/pregnant-workers-fairness-act-pwfa\/","title":{"rendered":"Compliance Alert: Federal Pregnant Workers Fairness Act (PWFA) Takes Effect"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-13957\" src=\"https:\/\/gtm.com\/business\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/pexels-matilda-wormwood-7485265.jpg\" alt=\"pregnant workers fairness act pwfa\" width=\"1024\" height=\"683\" srcset=\"https:\/\/gtm.com\/business\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/pexels-matilda-wormwood-7485265.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/gtm.com\/business\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/pexels-matilda-wormwood-7485265-980x654.jpg 980w, https:\/\/gtm.com\/business\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/pexels-matilda-wormwood-7485265-480x320.jpg 480w\" sizes=\"(min-width: 0px) and (max-width: 480px) 480px, (min-width: 481px) and (max-width: 980px) 980px, (min-width: 981px) 1024px, 100vw\" \/>Federal employment law is about to give birth to some long-overdue requirements. As of June 27, 2023, employers with 15 or more employees must provide pregnancy-related accommodations to employees and applicants under the federal <a href=\"https:\/\/www.eeoc.gov\/wysk\/what-you-should-know-about-pregnant-workers-fairness-act\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Pregnant Workers Fairness Act<\/a> (PWFA). Below we\u2019ll refer to employees and applicants collectively as \u201cemployees.\u201d<\/p>\n<h2>Pregnancy-Related Accommodations<b><br \/>\n<\/b><\/h2>\n<p>Under the PWFA, employees are entitled to accommodations for a condition related to or affected by pregnancy, childbirth, or a related medical condition. The condition can be physical or mental. Pregnancy-related conditions include, among others, morning sickness, gestational diabetes, post-partum depression, and lactation.<\/p>\n<p>This law expands employer obligations beyond what is\u00a0<i>already<\/i>\u00a0required by the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) in that being entitled to a pregnancy-related accommodation\u00a0<i>does not require<\/i>\u00a0that the employee\u2019s condition rise to the level of disability. Also, employees are entitled to accommodations even if they can\u2019t perform their essential job functions on a temporary basis.<\/p>\n<p>Possible accommodations include but aren\u2019t limited to:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Providing more frequent or more prolonged breaks<\/li>\n<li>Modifying a food or drink policy<\/li>\n<li>Providing seating or allowing the employee to sit more frequently if their job requires standing<\/li>\n<li>Observing limits on lifting<\/li>\n<li>Providing job restructuring, light duty, or a modified work schedule<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Employers can\u2019t require an employee to take leave if a reasonable on-the-job accommodation is available. Like the ADA, the employer and employee should engage in the interactive process to determine reasonable accommodations. However, if the employer is willing to grant the employee\u2019s request, the interactive process is not required.<\/p>\n<p>Many states have already implemented pregnancy accommodation laws, some of which may be more generous than the PWFA. Employers need to apply the law \u2013 or the aspect of each law \u2013 that is most favorable to employees.<br \/>\n<b><\/b><\/p>\n<h2>Undue Hardship Exception<b><br \/>\n<\/b><\/h2>\n<p>Employers don\u2019t have to provide accommodation if doing so would cause an undue hardship on the operation of the employer\u2019s business. Undue hardship is defined as \u201can action requiring significant difficulty or expense,\u201d the same as <a href=\"https:\/\/gtm.com\/business\/ada-undue-hardship-exemption\/\">under the ADA<\/a>. This is a high standard for employers to meet.<br \/>\n<b><\/b><\/p>\n<h2>Action Items<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li>Add a pregnancy accommodations policy to your handbook if you don\u2019t already have one<\/li>\n<li>If you\u2019re subject to a state law that provides similar accommodations, make sure your policy captures the most employee-friendly aspects of the applicable laws<\/li>\n<li>Ensure that managers are aware of the law and types of accommodations that may be required<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2>GTM Can Help With PWFA Compliance<\/h2>\n<p>It can be a complex, time-consuming task to keep up with compliance changes that impact your business. Whether you need help crafting new policies, updating your employee handbook, or training your managers to communicate new policies effectively, GTM&#8217;s HR consultants can provide assistance. Our <a href=\"https:\/\/gtm.com\/business\/hr-consulting-services\/hr-support-consulting\/\">HR Support and Consulting service<\/a> gives you the HR assistance you need when you need it. Fill out the brief form below for more information.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Employers with 15 or more employees must provide pregnancy-related accommodations under the federal Pregnant Workers Fairness Act (PWFA).<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[266],"tags":[79,18,105],"post_folder":[],"class_list":["post-13955","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-consulting-services","tag-compliance","tag-employer-policies","tag-pregnancy"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/gtm.com\/business\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13955","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/gtm.com\/business\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/gtm.com\/business\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gtm.com\/business\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/7"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gtm.com\/business\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=13955"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/gtm.com\/business\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13955\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":13960,"href":"https:\/\/gtm.com\/business\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13955\/revisions\/13960"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/gtm.com\/business\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=13955"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gtm.com\/business\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=13955"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gtm.com\/business\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=13955"},{"taxonomy":"post_folder","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gtm.com\/business\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/post_folder?post=13955"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}