Dear ADAAA, Happy Birthday! Love, Pregnant Workers

Today is a day for pregnant workers to celebrate. Five years ago today, the Americans with Disabilities Act Amendments Act (ADAAA) became law and restored the promise of the ADA, making the workplace much more accessible for people with disabilities.

But wait, you might be saying, pregnancy is not a disability, so how does this protect pregnant women? Here is why we are celebrating the ADAAA:

The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) prohibits discrimination against people with disabilities in employment, transportation, public accommodation, communication, and government activities and requires reasonable accommodations in the workplace. The ADAAA, signed into law on September 25, 2008, expanded the universe of disabilities that employers are required to reasonably accommodate—meaning, an employer must make an adjustment in the employee’s daily work that helps a person do his or her job.

First, the ADAAA expanded the definition of disability to reach temporary impairments, if they are severe enough to substantially limit a major life activity. It no longer matters if the impairment is something you have had for your entire life, a condition that only flares up every once in a while, or a condition that will only last a few months. If it limits your ability to do a major life activity when it is active, then you are protected by the ADAAA. This is huge for pregnant women—by definition, a pregnancy-related impairment, such as complications after a Caesarean section, hypertension, severe nausea, or sciatica, will typically be temporary. After all, no pregnancy yet has lasted forever. These temporary conditions, which can be very painful and completely alter a woman’s typical day, now qualify for accommodation under the ADAAA when they are severe enough to substantially limit a major life activity.  And this makes sense: why should a woman with gestational diabetes be treated any differently on the job than another employee with Type II diabetes?

Which leads us to the second reason the ADAAA is a big deal. It expanded the definition of “major life activity,” in a way that ensures many more pregnancy-related impairments and complications will qualify for coverage. ”Major life activity” now includes a broad range of activities, from walking, seeing, and hearing to breathing, learning, and working at a particular type of job, to respiratory function, digestive function, and circulatory function. This means that an employer will often be required to accommodate a pregnant woman experiencing severe back pain that limits her ability to stand, lift, or bend. Or a woman with pregnancy-related carpal-tunnel syndrome who has difficulties performing manual tasks. As a result, fewer pregnant women will be forced off the job at the moment they can least afford it.

It does not stop there—the ADAAA also supports the Pregnancy Discrimination Act (PDA). The PDA requires that employers treat pregnant employees as well as other workers similar in their ability to work. In other words, because the ADAAA requires employers to accommodate the employee who can’t lift because of a temporary back injury, the PDA requires that the employer provide the same accommodations to the pregnant worker who has been told by her doctor to avoid heavy lifting. Together, the PDA and ADAAA help ensure that pregnant workers are protected from discrimination in the workplace. The Pregnant Workers Fairness Act (PWFA), proposed in Congress, would join this dynamic-duo of laws by making it unmistakably clear that pregnant women should be allowed to continue to do their jobs and support their families with reasonable accommodations by their employers.

So the ADAAA protects pregnant workers by requiring employers to take an easy step—make sure that temporary physical limitations that can be reasonably accommodated don’t force anyone off the job. The ADAAA keeps moms in the workplace and supports healthy pregnancies—and that is something to celebrate!