The PWFA ensures pregnant and postpartum workers can access essential job protections—offering leave for recovery, mandating reasonable accommodations, prohibiting employer retaliation, and filling gaps left by other workplace policies.
This essay is a part of our latest installment of Women & Democracy all about the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act (PWFA)—a groundbreaking civil rights law ensuring pregnant and postpartum workers have the right to reasonable workplace accommodations. Bipartisan, pro-family and boldly feminist, the PWFA is both a lesson in democracy and a battleground for its defense against antidemocratic attacks. The multimedia project, “The Pregnant Workers Fairness Act Is Essential to Democracy,” was produced in partnership with A Better Balance and explores the decade-long fight for the law’s passage, its impact—particularly on women in low-wage jobs and women of color—and the legal and organizing strategies shaping its future.
At a time when civil and reproductive rights are under constant attack, there remains at least one bright light: the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act (PWFA), a relatively new law that grants landmark protections to pregnant and postpartum individuals in the workplace. The PWFA offers protections of which everyone should be aware, especially those who are or ever plan to become pregnant.
When it comes to supporting families, the United States ranks dismally low in myriad metrics. The government spends significantly less than peer countries on early childhood interventions. Maternal mortality rates particularly for Black women are abysmal. The reticence of political leaders to prioritize anti-poverty programs like the expanded child tax credit means having a baby can be catastrophic to a family’s finances.
Workplace accommodations for pregnancy and postpartum have also been neglected. Prior to the PWFA, women suffered without adequate support, a recipe for anxiety, burnout and serious medical complications that harm both mom and baby. It’s also a matter of equity given how much income and career trajectory women lost out on due to disproportionate pandemic unemployment. Ensuring moms have access to earning an income is also a racial justice issue, with Black and Brown mothers more likely to experience poverty around childbirth.
There is a cost to the economy too. Take morning sickness. Researchers estimate the economic toll of related medications, hospitalizations and lost time for workers totals more than $2 billion a year.
Changing these realities was a primary driver of the PWFA, which went into effect in 2023 and requires employers with 15 or more staff to ensure that workers who are pregnant or have just given birth are not forced out of their jobs by giving them reasonable accommodations.
Here are four need-to-know elements of the law:
- The PWFA grants workers time off for recovering from childbirth, even those who may not qualify for other programs. Leave can also be granted for a range of other pregnancy and postpartum issues including miscarriage, postpartum depression, mastitis, bedrest and even doctor’s appointments.
- Even if an employer doesn’t offer work modifications for other employees, they are required to follow the provisions of the PWFA. That includes “reasonable accommodations”—which could include things like lighter duty for jobs that entail manual labor, allowing remote work, schedule changes to account for morning sickness and even temporary transfer to a different position.
- An employee need not have any disability or complications to qualify for protections. There’s also no waiting period on when the PWFA kicks in—it can start during the hiring process. It is illegal for your employer to retaliate against an employee for requesting PWFA-granted rights and accommodations.
- The PWFA steps in where other programs have limitations. For instance, the Family Medical Leave Act offers workers up to 12 weeks of time off related to pregnancy or postpartum, but only applies to employers with at least 50 workers. Additionally, an employee has to have worked at an organization for a year to qualify for the FMLA and meet an hours requirement.
You can find more resources on the legislation here.
Of course, these protections have to be adhered to by employers to make them worthwhile. Since the PWFA is relatively new, some bosses may not be aware of the provisions yet. Others may choose to willfully disregard them. Experts from A Better Balance, a national advocacy organization focused on worker-family justice, have a helpline for anyone who encounters issues receiving their mandated protections under the PWFA. You can get assistance by calling 1-833-NEED-ABB or visiting their site here.
The motherhood penalty is real, but protections like the PWFA are a crucial tool in building a world where expecting and new moms are afforded the same opportunity as their colleagues to provide for their families while also advancing their own careers.
