Two years ago, the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act (PWFA) was passed into law, extending the right to reasonable workplace accommodations to pregnant and postpartum workers nationwide. We at A Better Balance launched and led the decade-long movement to pass this landmark civil rights law and fought for its passage alongside a diverse coalition of allies, including labor groups, maternal health groups, civil rights groups, and business groups.
The following summer, the law officially went into effect, and since then, the PWFA’s impact has been monumental, particularly for women of color and those in low-wage, physically demanding jobs. Finally, workers across the country no longer must choose between maintaining healthy pregnancies and staying attached to the workforce at an especially critical point in their growing families’ finances.
Now, we are working to vigorously defend and enforce the law, so it remains as strong as possible and accessible to the workers who are relying on it, and so workers whose rights have been violated receive relief. We are mobilizing to defend the PWFA against extremist legal challenges from conservative state attorneys general and religious employers seeking to undermine its effectiveness, including by submitting an amicus brief with the March of Dimes arguing that the PWFA is essential to the health and wellbeing of pregnant workers and babies after a federal court in Texas ruled that the PWFA was enacted unconstitutionally, blocking enforcement of the law for Texas state employees.
We are also helping to defend against attacks on key components of the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission’s regulations for the PWFA around issues like the coverage of time off for abortion or fertility care in several other federal court cases, and to represent workers like our client, Arya Parks, who was illegally forced out of her job as a cashier at Speedway when she was pregnant and in need of accommodations for her health.
We know that the first step of ensuring the law is working as intended is equipping workers with knowledge about these new protections, so that they can feel confident and informed in requesting the accommodations they need on the job.
To that end, we have published extensive digital resources breaking down what the PWFA does and answering common questions about the law. We also have released new and updated sample letters for workers to use when requesting pregnancy accommodations and when requesting a lactation accommodation. Our free, confidential legal helpline is here to provide workers with information and legal assistance about their unique circumstances every day.
We know this work will continue to be critical in the years ahead. We will never stop fighting for the rights of pregnant and postpartum workers to be healthy and free of discrimination as they provide for their families.
