Pregnancy, Parenting, and the Workplace

More families depend on women's income than ever before. We're working to make sure that women don't have to choose between having a child and having a job.  An important tool to advance the rights of working women is the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act.

Learn more about the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act:

Highlights

Fact Sheet | The Pregnant Workers Fairness Act: Making Room for Pregnancy on the Job

May 7, 2012

The Pregnant Workers Fairness Act (PWFA), introduced in both the House and the Senate, would let pregnant women continue to do their jobs and support their families by requiring employers to make the same sorts of accommodations for pregnancy, childbirth, and related medical conditions that they do for disabilities.  This fact sheet outlines the provisions of the bill and discusses the enormous impact its passage would have for working parents and their families.

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Fact Sheet | The Business Case for Accommodating Pregnant Workers

December 4, 2012

This fact sheet explores why accommodating pregant employees can benefit an employer's bottom line.

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Fact Sheet | Accommodating Pregnancy on the Job: Lessons from the Americans with Disabilities Act

December 4, 2012

The Pregnant Workers Fairness Act (PWFA) would promote women's health, economic security, and nondiscriminatory treatment on the job by ensuring reasonable accommodation for workers who need changes in job rules or duties because of pregnancy, childbirth, or a related medical conditions.  This fact sheet explores how these accommodations are similar to those offered by the Americans with Disabilities Act and how we can apply its guidance to the implementation of PWFA.

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Blog Post | “Similar in Their Ability or Inability to Work” or: How Not to Discriminate Against Pregnant Employees

February 17, 2012

This week, the EEOC held a public meeting on unlawful discrimination against pregnant workers and workers with caregiving responsibilities at which experts, including the National Women’s Law Center’s own Vice President and General Counsel Emily Martin, presented compelling testimony setting out the widespread and often blatant ways in which employers continue to unlawfully discriminate in the workplace. Members of the Commission expressed dismay, if not complete surprise, that nearly 35 years after the Pregnancy Discrimination Act (PDA) was passed in 1978, discrimination on the basis of pregnancy persists, in the words of EEOC Chair Jacqueline A. Berrien, “unnecessarily depriving women of the means to support their families.”

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More Resources

Resource Page | Share Your Story: Have you faced pregnancy discrimination in the workplace?

November 02, 2012

Courts have created a pregnancy loophole that allows many employers to refuse to accommodate even simple requests to help workers maintain healthy pregnancies. Pregnant women have been fired because they asked to avoid heavy lifting, or to stay off ladders, or to sit on a stool instead of standing at a cash register all day. It happens a lot. Maybe it happened to you.

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Coalition Action Materials | Why We Need the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act: Stories of Real Women

September 19, 2012

Along with A Better Balance, American Civil Liberties Union, California Women’s Law Center, Equal Rights Advocates, Legal Aid Society-Employment Law Center, Legal Momentum, and the National Partnership for Women and Families, the National Women’s Law Center has compiled accounts of pregnant workers who were denied minor adjustments to their job duties that they needed to continue safely working throughout pregnancy.

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Legal Briefs & Testimony | Letter to Congress: Co-Sponsor and Support the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act

May 08, 2012

Over 100 organizations have joined NWLC in defending the rights of pregnant workers and asking members of Congress to co-sponsor and support the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act!  You can send this letter to your Representative or Senator to get them to sign on to or vote for this legislation.

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Fact Sheet | The Pregnant Workers Fairness Act: Making Room for Pregnancy on the Job

May 07, 2012

The Pregnant Workers Fairness Act (PWFA), introduced in both the House and the Senate, would let pregnant women continue to do their jobs and support their families by requiring employers to make the same sorts of accommodations for pregnancy, childbirth, and related medical conditions that they do for disabilities.  This fact sheet outlines the provisions of the bill and discusses the enormous impact its passage would have for working parents and their families.

 Read more...

Legal Briefs & Testimony | NWLC Testimony re: Pregnancy and Caregiver Discrimination to the EEOC

March 08, 2012

This testimony outlines the barriers that pregnant and caregiving women continue to face in the workplace, demonstrating that this discrimination functions to exclude women from many high-wage and high-demand jobs that can be critical to achieving economic security.  It concludes by making recommendations to address these barriers and advance the rights of working women.  The supplemental testimony responds to questions posed by Commissioners at the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.

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