EEOC finalizes rule about employer accommodations for pregnant workers

The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission on Monday published a final rule outlining employers’ responsibilities for providing reasonable accommodations for a worker’s known limitations related to pregnancy, childbirth or related medical conditions.

The rule is meant to clarify the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act.

“At the EEOC, we have assisted women who have experienced serious health risks and unimaginable loss simply because they could not access a reasonable accommodation on the job. This final rule provides important information and guidance to help employers meet their responsibilities, and to job-seekers and employees about their rights,” EEOC Chair Charlotte A. Burrows said Monday in a statement. 

The EEOC began accepting charges of discrimination under the PWFA on June 27, the date it became law. The act builds on previously existing protections against pregnancy discrimination under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act. 

Among the clarifications under the final rule, which will be published Thursday in the Federal Register but is available now in PDF form, “reasonable accommodations” include additional breaks to drink water, eat or use the restroom; a stool to sit on while working; and time off for healthcare appointments. Further, accommodations extend to pregnancy-related medical conditions, such as miscarriage or stillbirth, lactation or morning sickness. 

“This guidance is based on Congress’s PWFA statutory language, the EEOC’s longstanding definition of ‘pregnancy, childbirth and related medical conditions’ from Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, and court decisions interpreting the term ‘pregnancy, childbirth, or related medical conditions’ from Title VII,” the agency said.

The final rule specifies that when a worker asks for accommodations under PWFA, an employer can offer them without seeing documentation. The employer can, under certain circumstances, ask for documentation. Additionally, the final rule provides an “explanation of when an accommodation would impose an undue hardship on an employer and its business.”

“The Pregnant Workers Fairness Act … encourages employers and employees to communicate early and often, allowing them to identify and resolve issues in a timely manner,” Burrows said.

Read more about the final rule here.