Labor & Employment Developments Blog

As we previously reported, in April 2024 the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) issued its final regulations implementing the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act (PWFA). Among other things, the rule stated that employers may be required to accommodate employees for abortion, treating it as a pregnancy-related condition.

Recent executive orders have caused the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) to abandon litigation and guidance on LGBTQ+ protections and other areas that were priorities during the Biden administration

On April 15, 2024 the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) announced its finalized regulations of the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act (PWFA). Effective last year, the PWFA requires employers to provide reasonable accommodations to employees and applicants with known physical limitations related to pregnancy, childbirth, or related medical conditions. But while the law went into effect on June 27, 2023, the EEOC is just now announcing its final rule providing guidance as to how this law will be interpreted and administered. 

Two new laws have gone into effect in 2023 that require many employers to change their approaches to pregnant and nursing workers. The Pregnant Workers Fairness Act (PWFA) went into effect in June and requires covered employers to provide reasonable accommodations to a worker’s known limitations related to pregnancy, childbirth, or related medical conditions, unless the accommodation will cause the employer an “undue hardship.” 

This Wednesday, December 3, 2014, the United States Supreme Court will hear oral arguments in the case of Young v. UPS, No. 12-1226, on appeal from the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeal.  The Young case has received significant attention because it asks the Court to directly address the question of what, if any, accommodation is required for a pregnant worker with work limitations under the Pregnancy Discrimination Act, incorporated into Title VII of the Civil Rights Act in 1978, where the employer provides work accommodations to non-pregnant employees with work limitations, such as those affected by on-the-job injuries or a disability as defined by the Americans with Disabilities Act.