Pregnant Workers Fairness Act

The Pregnant Workers Fairness Act is a United States law meant to eliminate discrimination and ensure workplace accommodations for workers with known limitations related to pregnancy, childbirth, or a related medical condition. It applies to employers having fifteen or more employees. Originally a stand-alone bill first introduced in 2012, the bill was included as Division II of the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2023, which was passed by Congress on December 27, 2022, and signed by President Joe Biden on December 29, 2022. The bill went into force on June 27, 2023.

Background The Pregnant Workers Fairness Act was first introduced in the House of Representatives on May 8, 2012, by Rep. Jerry Nadler (D-NY) following the publication of a January 2012 New York Times op-ed, "Pregnant, and Pushed Out of a Job."

In 2014, the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee held a hearing, "Economic Security for Working Women: A Roundtable Discussion," in which several witnesses discussed the need for the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act. In 2019 the House of Representatives Education & Labor Committee held the first-ever dedicated hearing on the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act entitled "Long Over Due: Exploring the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act." Witnesses included Congressman Jerry Nadler, Michelle Durham, an Alabama mother who was denied pregnancy accommodations, Iris Wilbur, then-Vice President of Greater Louisville Inc., Dina Bakst, Co-Founder & Co-President of A Better Balance, and Ellen McLaughlin, a partner at Seyfarth Shaw LLP.

In September 2020, the bill passed the House of Representatives by a vote of 329–73. In March 2021, the House of Representatives Education & Labor Committee held a hearing entitled "Fighting for Fairness: Examining Legislation to Confront Workplace Discrimination," with a focus on the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act, among other pieces of workplace legislation. In May 2021, the House of Representatives voted to pass the bill by a vote of 315–101. In August 2021, the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee voted to pass the bill out of Committee by a vote of 19–2.

The text of the bill was inserted by the Senate into the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2023, which was passed by Congress on December 27, 2022.

Legislative history : CongressShort titleBill number(s)Date introducedSponsor(s)# of cosponsorsLatest status112th CongressPregnant Workers Fairness Act of 2012May 8, 2012Jerry Nadler (D-NY)112Died in committeeAugust 19, 2012Bob Casey Jr. (D-PA)9Died in committee113th CongressPregnant Workers Fairness Act of 2013May 14, 2013Jerry Nadler (D-NY)142Died in committeeMay 14, 2013Bob Casey Jr. (D-PA)33Died in committee114th CongressPregnant Workers Fairness Act of 2015June 4, 2015Jerry Nadler (D-NY)149Died in committeeJune 4, 2015Bob Casey Jr. (D-PA)31Died in committee115th CongressPregnant Workers Fairness Act of 2017May 11, 2017Jerry Nadler (D-NY)131Died in committeeMay 11, 2017Bob Casey Jr. (D-PA)27Died in committee116th CongressPregnant Workers Fairness Act of 2019May 14, 2019Jerry Nadler (D-NY)241Passed in the House (329–73). 117th CongressPregnant Workers Fairness Act of 2021H.R. 1065February 15, 2021Jerry Nadler (D-NY)228Passed in the House (315–101). S.1486April 29, 2021Bob Casey Jr. (D-PA)40Referred to the committees of jurisdiction.

Provisions Specifically, the bill declares that it is an unlawful employment practice to:

fail to make reasonable accommodations to known limitations of certain employees unless the accommodation would impose an undue hardship on an entity's business operation; require an employee affected by such limitations to accept an accommodation other than any reasonable accommodation arrived at through an interactive process; deny employment opportunities based on the need of the entity to make such reasonable accommodations to a qualified employee; require such employees to take paid or unpaid leave if another reasonable accommodation can be provided; or take adverse action in terms, conditions, or privileges of employment against a qualified employee requesting or using such reasonable accommodations.

Legal challenge Texas's attorney general Ken Paxton challenged the PWFA along with an additional budget item within the 2023 consolidated budget bill. At the time the bill was passed, the U.S. House of Representatives was operating with allowance for remote voting, a practice developed from the COVID-19 pandemic. Paxton's lawsuit that the passage of the PWFA and the additional budget item were invalid since with the remote votes, there was not a sufficient quorum of representatives present to pass the bill, as set in Article One of the United States Constitution. Judge James Wesley Hendrix of the United States District Court for the Northern District of Texas ruled in February 2024 that while the other budget item could not be challenged, that there was an insufficient quorum for the PWFA to be enacted, issuing an injunction from the law being enforced in Texas. The ruling was appealed to the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit, which ruled in August 2025 that the use of remote voting did not violate the quorum clause, lifting the injunction and allowing PWFA to be enforced in Texas. Cory T. Wilson dissented. In January 2026, the Fifth Circuit vacated its decision after agreeing to rehear the case en banc. In May 2026, the circuit heard the case.

Pregnant Workers Fairness Act

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