The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission issued proposed regulations Aug. 7 for the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act.
The proposal is to implement the PWFA, which took effect June 27 and was signed into law by President Joe Biden on Dec. 29, 2022. The EEOC, which is tasked with enforcement, said the law requires covered employers to provide reasonable accommodations to pregnant and postpartum workers, unless the accommodation will result in an undue hardship for the employer.
The EEOC proposal lists various types of reasonable accommodations that a worker may seek under the PWFA, which include, but are not limited to: job restructuring; part-time or modified work schedules; and more frequent breaks.
The proposal also explains how the EEOC proposes to interpret certain terms in the law. For example, the EEOC proposes to interpret "essential function" as "the fundamental duties of the job."
Additionally, the EEOC provides examples of possible reasonable accommodations.
The EEOC proposal was posted by the Federal Register for public inspection Aug. 7 and will be published for public comment in the Federal Register Aug. 11. Members of the public wishing to comment on the proposal will have 60 days from the date of publication to do so through this website.