If you’re pregnant and need accommodations to do your job, a 2023 federal law can help protect your right to ask for them.
The Pregnant Workers Fairness Act, which went into effect in June 2023, requires certain employers to provide “reasonable accommodations” related to pregnancy or childbirth.
The law only applies to accommodations. There are other laws that make it illegal to fire or discriminate against employees or applicants on the basis of pregnancy, childbirth or related medical conditions.
Here’s what you need to know about the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act.
What protections do you have?
Under the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act, employers can’t withhold reasonable accommodations for the known physical or mental limitations of a pregnant employee or applicant.
Reasonable accommodations can include longer breaks, providing a stool to sit on, working remotely and leaving to recover from childbirth.
Alessandra Rosa, lead outreach and education manager for the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission’s Indianapolis office, said the law goes beyond previous protections extended to pregnant workers.
What makes the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act better, she said, is that it protects people whose conditions are relatively minor, such as morning sickness.
There isn’t a comprehensive list of covered accommodations because it all comes down to what’s considered reasonable.
An employer doesn’t have to provide an accommodation if, for example, it would cause an undue hardship, such as being too expensive or cumbersome.
Under the law, employers also are prohibited from other things, including requiring an employee to take leave if another reasonable accommodation can be provided and denying employment based on the person’s need for an accommodation.
The law, however, doesn’t apply to every employer and employee.
Does this apply to you and your employer?
The law applies to private and public sector employers that have at least 15 employees. It also applies to employment agencies and labor organizations.
There are two ways for an employee to be qualified under the law.
If you can perform the fundamental duties associated with your job — even if you need a reasonable accommodation to do so — you’re covered.
But even if you can’t do the essential functions of your job, you could be qualified as long as the inability is temporary and the employer can change your work assignments.
How do you file a complaint?
If you believe your employer might have discriminated against you, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission has options you can pursue.
You can submit an inquiry to the EEOC through an online portal, and staff will review basic information of the case. The form includes questions about when the incident happened and the type of discrimination, such as pregnancy or race.
Your employer won’t be notified if you file an inquiry.
An inquiry isn’t the same as a charge of discrimination, which is available through the same portal.
A charge is a signed statement saying an organization discriminated against you. If you file a charge, you’re requesting action from the commission.
Your employer will be notified if you file a charge.
In Indiana, you have up to 300 days from the discriminatory event to file a claim under the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act.
From there, you could go to mediation if both parties agree. This happens before the commission investigates the complaint and gives you and your employer a chance to work through the problem on your own.
If the commission investigates and determines your employer discriminated against you, the commission will work with both parties to resolve the issue.
If that doesn’t work, the commission has to decide whether to take the case to court. Not every case goes to court, though.
If the commission decides against filing a lawsuit, you have 90 days to file one on your own. You also could file a lawsuit on your own if the commission doesn’t find you were discriminated against.
As of Aug. 13, Rosa said there are 13 active cases in the Indianapolis district. That’s compared to 10 in Detroit, three in Louisville and one in Cincinnati.
How long does the complaint process take?
How long the process takes can depend, Rosa said, on how complicated the case is and how responsive both parties are.
For example, mediation could take only a couple of months to wrap up.
If you have a lot of information to provide and your employer provides everything the commission requests, that case could take close to a year to resolve.
In some cases, if you don’t have much information and your employer isn’t responsive, that can take more than a year to resolve.
Mirror Indy reporter Tyler Fenwick covers economics. Contact him at 317-766-1406 or tyler.fenwick@mirrorindy.org. Follow him on X @ty_fenwick.
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