On December 23, 2022, Congress passed the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act (the “PWFA”) as an amendment to the 2023 Consolidated Appropriations Act, which President Biden signed into law on December 29, 2022. The PWFA is set to go into effect on June 27, 2023.

The PWFA expands existing federal law with respect to the accommodation of pregnant employees in at least three significant ways.

First, prior to the passage of the PWFA, federal law only required employers to accommodate pregnant employees’ medical restrictions to the extent those restrictions rendered the employees “disabled” within the meaning of the Americans with Disabilities Act (the “ADA”). The PWFA, however, requires employers to make reasonable accommodations for pregnancy-related medical conditions irrespective of whether those conditions rise to the level of a disability, as long as the accommodations do not impose an undue hardship on the employer.[1] Second, employers may only require employees to use leave to accommodate pregnancy-related restrictions if no other reasonable accommodations are available. (In other words, leave may only be used as a “last resort” unless, of course, the employee prefers leave as an accommodation). Third, pregnant employees must be provided with reasonable accommodations even if they cannot perform all essential functions of the job, as long as their inability to perform those essential functions is temporary.

Below, we provide an overview of the PWFA’s requirements; explain...

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