THE PREGNANT WORKERS FAIRNESS ACT: IS YOUR WORKPLACE READY FOR PREGNANCY ACCOMMODATIONS? PART 2 OF 2

This is the second part of an exploration of the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act (PWFA). In the first part of this series, we explored the types of pregnancy-related conditions covered under the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act (PWFA) and the requirements around notification, documentation, and confidentiality. Now, let’s dive into the heart of the matter: how employers can navigate the process of finding reasonable accommodations and understanding when they may be excused from offering one. With the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission’s final PWFA regulations set to take effect on June 18, 2024, it’s crucial for employers with 15 or more employees to understand their obligations under the Act. The range of possible accommodations for pregnant workers is broad: modified work schedules, lifting assistance, additional breaks, and even the temporary suspension of an essential job function. And accommodations do not only have to be made for pregnant employees: the PWFA also requires reasonable accommodation of conditions related to pregnancy and childbirth, such as menstruation, post-partum depression, and carpal tunnel syndrome.

FINDING A REASONABLE ACCOMMODATION

The Interactive Process

The PWFA requires employers to engage in an informal, interactive process with any employee seeking an accommodation for a limitation caused by pregnancy or a related condition. It is a violation of the PWFA for an employer to adopt (or deny) an accommodation without having gone through the interactive process.

In requiring participation in an interactive process, the PWFA mirrors the ADA. There are no particular steps the employer must follow, as befits the “informal” description of the process. But as the term “interactive” implies, the process should involve a back-and-forth dialogue between the employer and employee, identifying both the limitation and the requested adjustment to the employee’s job duties in more detail, if necessary, and then brainstorming possible reasonable accommodations. Compare the PWFA regulation at 29 CFR § 1636.3(k) with the ADA regulation at 29 CFR § 1630.2(o)(3).