The EEOC’s newly proposed Pregnant Workers Fairness Act regulations are generating some debate over their expanded definition of medical conditions that could require employer accommodations, including abortion.
Attorneys who represent employers say the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission’s “broad” definition of “pregnancy, childbirth, or related medical conditions” opens the door to more protections for pregnant workers than previously anticipated. It includes current, past, and potential pregnancy, lactation, use of birth control, menstruation, miscarriages, and abortion.
The proposed rules also would expand when an employee is “qualified” for leave as a reasonable accommodation, an addition intended to fill in gaps in the Family and Medical Leave Act.
The proposed regulations, which published in the Federal Register on Friday (RIN: 3046–AB30), would update anti-bias protections for pregnant Americans for the first time since the 1978 Pregnancy Discrimination Act. As the primary agency enforcing the new law, the EEOC’s interpretation sets key standards for employers, whether or not they agree with the scope of the agency’s rules.
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