New Federal Workplace Protections for Pregnant and Nursing Employees, Reminiscent of…California Law?!
MSK Client Alert
February 23, 2023
It may surprise California-centric employers to learn that up until the final days of 2022, Federal law seldom required employers to provide reasonable accommodations to individuals with known pregnancy-related limitations, and millions of nursing mothers had no guaranteed right to lactation breaks during working hours. On December 29, 2022, President Biden signed two laws that finally changed this – the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act (the “Act” or “PWFA”), which provides additional protections for pregnancy, childbirth and related conditions, and the Providing Urgent Maternal Protections for Nursing Mothers Act (the “PUMP Act”), which codifies a nursing mother’s right to lactation breaks.