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What is the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act (PWFA)?

What employees and employers should know about the PWFA

Quick answer
 The Pregnant Workers Fairness Act (PWFA) is a federal law that took effect in June 2023. It requires covered employers to provide reasonable accommodations for employees with known limitations due to pregnancy, childbirth, or related medical conditions. The law is enforced by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC).

Who this applies to / Prerequisites

  • Private employers with 15 or more employees are generally covered.
  • Applies to employees who have communicated a known limitation related to pregnancy, childbirth, or a related medical condition to their employer.

Key facts

  1. "Related medical conditions" can include current, past, or potential pregnancy, lactation, use of birth control, menstruation, infertility, endometriosis, miscarriage or medically necessary termination, stillbirth, and other conditions, per EEOC guidance.
  2. A qualifying physical or mental condition can be a modest, minor, and/or episodic impediment — it does not need to be severe.
  3. To be eligible for an accommodation, the employee must be able to perform essential job functions with or without an accommodation, or be temporarily unable to perform an essential function with a reasonable path back to performing it.
  4. Employers can deny a PWFA accommodation request only if it would be an undue hardship — meaning an individualized assessment shows the specific accommodation would cause significant difficulty or expense. [VERIFY: source uses "typically" language around what counts as undue hardship — confirm exact standard with legal counsel before publishing as an absolute.]
  5. Before deciding on a request, the employer and employee must engage in the "interactive process" — an informal back-and-forth to identify an effective, reasonable accommodation.

What if it doesn't work

  • Not applicable — this article is background information, not a procedure.

Limits and exceptions

  • Tilt is not currently supporting workplace, or non-leave, accommodations. [This means: Tilt currently supports PWFA leave accommodations only, not on-the-job accommodations like extra breaks or seating.]

Related questions

  • How does Tilt handle leave after I have a baby (PWFA postpartum leave)?
  • How does Tilt handle PWFA leave requests outside the postpartum period?
  • What are HR's responsibilities under a PWFA leave request in Tilt?