What it means for you
Since June 27, 2023, employers with 15 or more workers generally must give qualified pregnant and postpartum workers reasonable accommodations, such as extra breaks, a stool, or time off for appointments. They can refuse if it would cause undue hardship.
Who benefits: Qualified workers and job applicants with known limitations related to pregnancy, childbirth, or a related medical condition, at covered employers—generally those with 15 or more employees.
If you’re a qualified worker with a limitation related to pregnancy, childbirth, or a related medical condition, your employer must make reasonable changes after you tell it what you need. Examples include breaks, a stool, lighter duty, telework, schedule changes, or time off for appointments and recovery. It can refuse if the change would cause undue hardship, but it can’t force you onto leave when another reasonable change would let you work.
The law generally covers private, state and local government employers with 15 or more workers, plus federal agencies, Congress, employment agencies and unions. You don’t apply to a government program. If your employer refuses, you can generally file an EEOC charge.
Sen. Bob Casey introduced the Senate bill in 2012 and reintroduced it four times. Rep. Jerrold Nadler introduced the House bill in 2012 and sponsored it in every Congress through 2021, when the House passed it 315–101. In December 2022, Republican Sen. Bill Cassidy offered it with Casey as an amendment to the year-end spending bill. The Senate added it 73–24, and President Joe Biden signed the bill December 29, 2022.
The law still applies for most workers, but its reach is contested. In May 2025, a judge vacated the rule for purely elective abortions not needed to treat a pregnancy-related condition. Federal enforcement is blocked against Texas state agencies while the full Fifth Circuit reconsiders Texas’s challenge. The EEOC has also scheduled a proposal to narrow which related medical conditions its rule covers.
Work and wagesRightsHealth care
Where it stands, and how we know
Source for this status, checked November 11, 2026.
Sources
- What You Should Know About the Pregnant Workers Fairness ActU.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission
- H.R. 2617, Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2023Congress.gov
- Roll Call Vote 416, Cassidy Amendment No. 6558U.S. Senate, December 22, 2022
- Majority Leader Schumer floor remarks on passage of the Pregnant Workers Fairness ActSenate Democratic Caucus, December 22, 2022
- A look at the Pregnant Workers Fairness ActSafety+Health Magazine, June 1, 2023
- Making the New Pregnant Workers Fairness Act Work for Women and FamiliesMs. Magazine, November 1, 2023
- EEOC signals rollback of Pregnant Workers Fairness Act regulationsHR Dive, November 3, 2026
- Order granting rehearing en banc in Texas v. BondiU.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit, January 14, 2026
- Revisions to the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act RegulationsOffice of Information and Regulatory Affairs
How we checked this
Drafted by Claude Opus 5.5 (Anthropic) on November 11, 2026. Checked against its sources by GPT-5.6-sol (OpenAI) on November 11, 2026, which corrected it. Confirmed the law, enactment dates, sponsors, amendment vote, and both final omnibus roll calls. Corrected the coverage language, Casey’s reintroduction count, and the status to reflect the pending Fifth Circuit challenge and planned EEOC rule revision.
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