Millions of pregnant and postpartum workers across the country could be legally entitled to longer breaks, shorter hours and time off for medical appointments and recovery from childbirth starting Tuesday, when the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act takes effect.
The new law requires employers with at least 15 employees to provide “reasonable accommodations” to workers who need them due to pregnancy, childbirth or related medical conditions, according to the Equal Employment Opportunity Commissionwho is in charge of enforcing the law.
An estimated 2.8 million workers a year could benefit from the policy change, according to a report published last fall by the advocacy organization National Partnership for Women and Families.
The EEOC has yet to publish a list of the types of accommodations that will be required under the law. But examples might include more flexible hours, the option to sit in jobs that require long periods of standing, a parking space closer to the workplace, access to uniforms and safety clothing that accommodates a changing body. pregnant person, and an excuse to lift heavy objects or work around chemicals that could be dangerous during pregnancy, according to the EEOC.
By the end of this year, the commission should publish guidance on how employers should implement the law, including a list of examples of reasonable accommodation, on which the public will have a chance to weigh in.
Dina Bakst, co-founder and co-chair of the workers’ rights organization A Better Balance, pushed for the law over the past decade. She said she hopes the change will particularly benefit pregnant workers in low-wage, male-dominated jobs, as those employees often fear losing their jobs if they request pregnancy-related accommodations.
For example, Bakst added, mandatory access to the bathroom and water breaks “sound very basic, but for women in retail and other low-wage industries with jobs that are too rigid and inflexible, these kinds of accommodations can make a world of difference.”
A Better Balance has operated a free legal help line since 2009, and Bakst said many pregnant workers who have called in the past have reported facing “devastating” economic consequences, including food insecurity and homelessness, because they were fired or forced to leave after requesting employment-related accommodations. pregnancy.
According to the EEOC8 out of 10 women who are pregnant for the first time work until the last month of pregnancy, and nearly a quarter of mothers have considered leaving their jobs during pregnancy due to lack of accommodation or fear of discrimination.
TO joint report produced last year by A Better Balance and the advocacy group Black Mamas Matter Alliance suggests that protections for pregnant workers could also help reduce racial disparities in maternal and child health, particularly for black mothers, who have the highest participation in the labor force among mothers with children under 18 years of age.
Under the new law, employers will be able to choose not to provide accommodations to pregnant workers if they can show that doing so presents an “undue hardship” to their business operations.
Kathleen Gerson, a sociology professor at New York University whose work has focused on gender and employment, characterized the new policy as “a step in the right direction.”
“It starts to change the culture of the workplace and how we as workers and employers think about it,” Gerson said of the law.
However, the law does not guarantee paid parental leave, which was removed from President Biden’s Build Back Better package in 2021 and which Gerson says is still needed to support postpartum workers.
He added that until the EEOC releases more information about “reasonable accommodations” under the law, it’s hard to predict what impact the policy will have.
“It’s certainly good news, no doubt about it. The question really is, how good is the news and how much more is there to do?” Gerson said.
Sharyn Tejani, associate legal counsel for the EEOC, said that until the EEOC issues its guidance, employers can refer to other civil rights laws mentioned in the legislation, including the Americans with Disabilities Act, to determine examples of reasonable accommodations and what qualify for a hardship. exemption.
Tejani added that workers can file complaints with the EEOC about their employers’ failure to comply with the new law.
President Biden signed the Pregnant Workers Equity Act into law in December, after a years-long effort to bring it to a vote in the Senate. Previous versions of the bill passed the House with bipartisan support in 2019 and 2021but it did not pass the Senate until it became part of the $1.7 trillion government funding bill.
