Accommodate, accommodate, accommodate! I started practicing law two years before Congress enacted the Americans with Disabilities Act (1990), and four years before it took effect (1992 for larger employers, 1994 for smaller...more
With the new year upon us, employers should review their employee handbooks and ensure they are compliant with more recent updates to both Oregon and federal law....more
All New York employers are now required to provide 30-minute paid lactation breaks following a recent amendment to Labor Law § 206-c. New York State has long required employers to support working mothers by providing...more
The Pregnant Workers Fairness Act (PWFA), the newest member of the family of federal anti-discrimination laws, is almost one year old! Instead of inviting employers over for cake and photo ops, after one year of accepting...more
In just over a year following its enactment, employees across the country have filed a bevy of lawsuits, including class actions, alleging violations of the Providing Urgent Maternal Protections for Nursing Mothers Act (PUMP...more
Within the past year, the rights of pregnant workers have considerably increased within the workplace. The expansion started with the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act (“PWFA”), which President Biden signed into law in late 2022....more
The validity of the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act (“PWFA”) is being questioned less than one year after it went into effect. On February 27, 2024, a federal judge for the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas...more
This past year has brought with it expanded employment protections for new and expectant working mothers. These protections, in the form of two federal laws, alter the landscape for how employers can consider the needs of...more
Everyone has been preparing for the recently enacted Pregnant Workers Fairness Act and the PUMP Act. Earlier this month the EEOC gave us another reason to make sure our policies are up to snuff. Frontier Airlines and the EEOC...more
The ability to pump breast milk in the workplace is protected by the FLSA. In 2010, the Break Time for Nursing Mother Act was passed as part of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) and amended the FLSA to include break time and...more
The Pregnant Workers Fairness Act (PWFA), which requires employers with fifteen (15) or more employees to provide reasonable accommodations for an employee’s or applicant’s known limitations related to pregnancy, childbirth,...more
Last week, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) and the US Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division (WHD) signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) to encourage enhanced law enforcement and greater...more
In recent years, the United States has faced an epidemic of maternal mortality and worsening maternal health disparities and ranks well beyond its industrialized peers on these metrics. In response, many employers have taken...more
Earlier this month, the EEOC released proposed regulations to implement the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act (“PWFA,” or the “Act”), which we initially wrote about. (The proposed rule can be found on the Federal Register’s...more
Pregnant workers seeking workplace accommodations can expect a less bumpy ride ahead, due to the delivery of the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act (PWFA). The PWFA protects employees and applicants who have known limitations...more
In late 2022, President Biden signed legislation creating new protections for pregnant and nursing employees, which was addressed in a previous alert. The Pregnant Workers Fairness Act (PWFA), went into effect on June 27,...more
On June 27, 2023, the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act (“PWFA”) went into effect. This new law requires covered employers to provide “reasonable accommodations” for the known limitations of a worker relating to pregnancy,...more
The Pregnant Workers Fairness Act (“PWFA”) is a new federal law that went into effect on June 27, 2023, requiring covered employers to provide reasonable accommodation to qualified employees and applicants with known...more
Balancing work and motherhood raises age-old questions for women in virtually every industry. Amongst these are how to navigate work during both pregnancy and the transition back to work after the baby is born, which present...more
Under the new Pregnant Workers Fairness Act (PWFA), which took effect on June 27, 2023, employers are now required to provide “reasonable accommodations” to nursing and pregnant employees....more
On June 27, 2023, the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act (PWFA) officially became law. The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) has issued statements confirming it will start accepting charges for any violations of the...more
Starting today, many employers will be required to provide reasonable accommodations to pregnant workers pursuant to the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act (PWFA), which was passed late last year as part of the omnibus spending...more
Many working mothers strive to attain some form of work life balance but may find that their jobs do not provide the flexibility and autonomy that they need to reach this goal. Women often feel like we are spinning one plate...more
As reported in our January 10 alert, the federal Pregnant Workers Fairness Act (PWFA) goes into effect on June 27. While our prior alert contained the details of this new law, here are a few practical steps to...more
Two new federal laws expand the scope of existing protections for pregnant employees and nursing workers. Employers should carefully review existing accommodation and lactation policies and practices to ensure they are...more