The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) has proposed regulations to implement the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act (PWFA), a bipartisan law enacted last year that gives individuals the right to request a reasonable accommodation for pregnancy-related limitations. The proposed regulations broadly define “pregnancy, childbirth, and related medical conditions” to include use of birth control, menstruation, infertility and fertility treatments, lactation, and having or choosing not to have an abortion.
The proposed regulations also state that an employer’s unnecessary delay in responding to a reasonable request for accommodation may be a violation, even if the employer eventually provides the accommodation. The proposal emphasizes that a delay in providing specific accommodations—allowing an employee to carry water and drink as needed; allowing additional restroom breaks; allowing breaks as needed to eat and drink; and allowing employees to sit or stand—will almost always be considered an unnecessary delay.
Furthermore, the proposed regulations clarify that they do not prohibit an employer from offering leave as a reasonable accommodation if that is an employee’s requested accommodation.