The Pregnant Workers Fairness Act Requires Accommodation Even When The Condition Is Not A Disability.
The federal Pregnant Workers Fairness Act, effective June 2023, requires covered employers to make reasonable accommodations for known limitations connected to pregnancy, childbirth or related medical conditions. The EEOC’s implementing regulations took effect in June 2024.
What The Act Requires.
Overview for general information, not legal advice. Look up the current text.
Covered Employers
The statute covers private employers with 15 or more employees and certain other defined entities.
Known Limitations
Known limitations arising from pregnancy, childbirth or related medical conditions must be accommodated unless that would cause undue hardship.
Process Rules
An employer cannot require an employee to take leave if another accommodation works, cannot deny job opportunities because of the need for accommodation and cannot retaliate.
Putting The Act Into Practice.
The condition need not amount to a disability. Frequent accommodations are extra breaks, a stool, schedule changes, time off for appointments, light duty and a temporary adjustment to a task such as lifting. The employer should hold an interactive conversation with the employee, much as under the ADA.
The regulations list four simple, predictable accommodations that should generally be granted promptly: keeping water close, extra restroom breaks, sitting or standing as needed, and breaks for food or drink. Keep documentation requests limited and reasonable, and ask for no more than is required.
Leave is a possible accommodation, but it should not be pushed on an employee when a different accommodation would let them keep working. Employers should also make sure that supervisors know how to route a request and that retaliation is not tolerated.
Where this shows up in your plan.
Leave And Coverage
If leave is the accommodation, the group health coverage rules for leave apply. Confirm how coverage continues and who pays.
Modified Duty And Eligibility
A temporary schedule change should be checked against plan hours thresholds so that a pregnant employee does not lose coverage because of an accommodation.
Appointment Time Off
Time off for prenatal appointments may be an accommodation and can overlap with sick time rules.
Setting it up.
Add the Act to the accommodation policy and the handbook.
Train supervisors to treat pregnancy-related requests as accommodation requests.
Begin the interactive process promptly and limit documentation requests.
Check any schedule or leave change against plan eligibility.
Keep records of the request, the decision and the date.
Mistakes to avoid.
Insisting on leave when a different accommodation would work.
Asking for extensive medical documentation for a simple request.
Assuming the Act requires a disability.
Retaliating against an employee who asks for an accommodation.
Other rules employers work with.
Pregnancy and Lactation Employer Guide: PWFA and PUMP
The parent guide covering these pregnancy topics.
ADA and Religious Accommodations
How accommodation works for disability and belief.
FMLA Rules for Michigan Employers
Eligibility and benefits during leave.
Laws and Rules Referenced
PWFA, 42 U.S.C. 2000gg — Statutory text on accommodation and prohibited practices.
EEOC implementing rules, 29 CFR Part 1636 (PWFA) — EEOC regulations implementing the Act.
EEOC Pregnant Workers Fairness Act overview — Federal agency guidance on the Act.
Quick answers.
Short replies about PWFA accommodations, with links to the whole guide.
Does the Act apply to small employers?
Private employers with 15 or more employees are covered. Michigan law reaches pregnancy discrimination by employers of any size.
Does the employee need a disability?
No. The limitation only has to relate to pregnancy, childbirth or a related medical condition.
Can we require leave?
Not when some other reasonable accommodation would let the worker stay on the job.
Is a doctor note needed?
Only when reasonable under the circumstances, and the request should be limited to what is needed.
More guides in this series.
PUMP Act Break Time and Space Requirements for Michigan Employers
A companion guide in the same series.
Michigan Elliott-Larsen Pregnancy Discrimination Rules for Employers
A companion guide in the same series.
Group Health Coverage During Pregnancy and Family Leave
A companion guide in the same series.
Maternity and Lactation Benefits in Employer Health Plans
A companion guide in the same series.
Leave Policies for Pregnancy, Childbirth and Bonding
A companion guide in the same series.
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