The Pregnant Workers Fairness Act 

The PWFA expands the protections for pregnant employees and applicants, requiring employers with 15 or more employees to make reasonable accommodations to known limitations related to pregnancy, childbirth, or related medical conditions and to provide such accommodations where it would not impose an undue hardship. If a different reasonable accommodation is available, the employer cannot ask an employee to take paid or unpaid leave. 

The PWFA protects employees from retaliation, coercion, intimidation, threats, or interference if they request or receive reasonable accommodation.

Examples of reasonable accommodations that address known limitations related to pregnancy, childbirth, and related medical conditions will be provided with regulations by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) within one year.

The law also provides for compensation in the event of violations.

The PWFA’s requirements will take effect on June 2023. 

The Providing Urgent Maternal Protections for Nursing Mothers Act

The PUMP Act amends the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA), expanding workplace protections for lactating employees. It requires employers to provide all employees - regardless of their status as exempt or non-exempt, whereas the FLSA only concerns non-exempt —with reasonable break time and a private location other than a restroom to express breast milk.

The provision does not apply to employers with fewer than 50 employees (if its application would present an undue hardship in terms of expense or other difficulties in light of the employer’s size, resources, nature, or business structure), as well as air carrier crew members, rail carrier crew members, and motor coach operators.

Remedies for non-compliance are the same as those available under the FLSA: payment of unpaid wages, reinstatement, back pay, front pay, and liquidated damages.

The PMP Act took effect on the date of enactment.

Employers should be aware of these expanded protections and verify to be compliant with them, evaluating their current policies and procedures to ensure they are prepared to address accommodation requests from pregnant employees as well as to guarantee adequate break time and access to a private location for purposes of expressing breast milk to nursing mothers.