Passing the PWFA would mean a step towards workplace gender equity, healthy pregnancies, reduced health disparities, and the economic security of pregnant and parenting women and their families.
For too many working women, pregnancy still means having to choose between maternal and child health and holding down a job. While this is a major issue for many women, BIPOC women pay a higher price, as they are disproportionately concentrated in jobs with low wages and few benefits. Only six percent of people working in low wage jobs have access to any family leave. Women working low wage jobs often bear physically and emotionally demanding work environments during pregnancy, increasing the possibility of complications. In the United States, Black and Native women are two to three times more likely to die from pregnancy complications than white women. Pregnant women need workplace accommodations and legal protections that will help them keep their jobs, work safely, and prevent discrimination.
What Laws Exist to Protect Pregnant Women?
The Pregnancy Discrimination Act (PDA) of 1978 was passed to prevent employers from firing or demoting women, denying them promotions, or forcing them to stop working because they are or might become pregnant. It is also made it illegal for employers to deny pregnant workers alternative or lighter work if accommodations would be available to other workers with injuries or disabilities. But in the nearly 40 years since the PDA was enacted, charges of pregnancy discrimination have persisted. There were more than 15,000 pregnancy discrimination charges filed between 2015 and 2019. More is needed to protect pregnant workers.
What Does the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act Change?
Congress votes tomorrow on The Pregnant Workers Fairness Act (PWFA). The PWFA would go a step further than the PDA and require employers to make reasonable accommodations for pregnant workers and address limitations arising from pregnancy, childbirth, and related medical conditions, just as they are legally required to do for workers with disabilities. It is especially critical to clarify employers’ obligations to provide accommodations for pregnant workers during COVID-19 pandemic. Pregnant women may be more at risk than other workers. One study suggests that pregnant women with COVID-19 are more likely to be hospitalized and be admitted into intensive care unit (ICU) admission and receive mechanical ventilation than women who are not pregnant. Employers need to take reasonable steps to ensure the safety of pregnant workers.
Supporting Pregnant Workers Improves Families’ Health and Well-Being
The discrimination pregnant workers face can have huge, long-term economic impacts, including loss of opportunities for trainings and promotions and the motherhood penalty. This is especially common for women working in middle-skill, high paying industries, such as blue-collars jobs where workers move from one contract to another. With frequent hiring and discharge, proving that the end of the contract was due to discrimination, or finding a new job while visibly pregnant, can be particularly challenging.
Passing the PWFA would mean a step towards workplace gender equity, healthy pregnancies, reduced health disparities, and the economic security of pregnant and parenting women and their families.
