Fact Sheet for Small Businesses: Pregnancy Discrimination

This technical assistance document was issued upon approval of the Chair of the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.

This document provides information on how to comply with the Pregnancy Discrimination Act’s requirements for applicants and employees with respect to pregnancy, childbirth, or related medical conditions in violation of Title VII, as amended by the Pregnant

The contents of this document do not have the force and effect of law and are not meant to bind the public in any way. This document is intended only to provide clarity to the public regarding existing requirements under the law or agency policies.

Notice concerning the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act of 2022

This document was issued prior to enactment of the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act (PWFA), which took effect on June 27, 2023. The PWFA expands the rights of workers affected by pregnancy, childbirth, or related medical conditions to receive reasonable accommodations, absent undue hardship. To learn about protections under the PWFA, visit What You Should Know About the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act.

This document explains the requirements of the Pregnancy Discrimination Act (PDA), as well as the requirements of Title I of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) as it applies to women with pregnancy-related disabilities. The PDA and ADA apply to employers with 15 or more employees.

Basic PDA Requirements

The PDA requires that a covered employer treat women affected by pregnancy, childbirth, or related medical conditions in the same manner as other applicants or employees who are similar in their ability or inability to work. The PDA covers all aspects of employment, including firing, hiring, promotions, and fringe benefits (such as leave and health insurance benefits). Pregnant workers are protected from discrimination based on current pregnancy, past pregnancy, and potential pregnancy.

• Current pregnancy. Under the PDA, an employer cannot fire, refuse to hire, demote, or take any other adverse action against a woman if pregnancy, childbirth, or a related medical condition was a motivating factor in the adverse employment action. This is true even if the employer believes it is acting in the employee's best interest.
• Past Pregnancy. An employer may not discriminate against an employee or applicant based on a past pregnancy or pregnancy-related medical condition or childbirth. For example, an employer may not fire a woman because of pregnancy during or at the end of her maternity leave.
• Potential Pregnancy. An employer may not discriminate based on an employee's intention or potential to become pregnant. For example, an employer may not exclude a woman from a job involving processing certain chemicals out of concern that exposure would be harmful to a fetus if the employee became pregnant. Concerns about risks to a pregnant employee or her fetus will rarely, if ever, justify sex-specific job restrictions for a woman of childbearing capacity.
• Medical Condition Related to Pregnancy or Childbirth. An employer may not discriminate against an employee because of a medical condition related to pregnancy and must treat the employee the same as others who are similar in their ability or inability to work but are not affected by pregnancy, childbirth, or related medical conditions. For example, under the PDA, since lactation is a medical condition related to pregnancy, an employer may not discriminate against an employee because of her breastfeeding schedule. (For information about a provision of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act that provides additional protections for breastfeeding employees, see the section on "Other Federal Laws Protecting Pregnant Workers" below.).

Harassment

It is unlawful to harass a woman because of pregnancy, childbirth, or a related medical condition. Harassment is illegal when it is so frequent or severe that it creates a hostile or offensive environment, or when it results in an adverse employment decision (such as the victim being fired or demoted).

Workers with Caregiving Responsibilities

Discrimination against a worker with caregiving responsibilities violates Title VII if it is based on sex, and violates the ADA if it is based on a family member's disability. For example, an employer violates Title VII by treating a female employee with young children less favorably than a male employee with young children when deciding on work opportunities, based on a belief that the mother should focus more on the children than on her career. In addition, an employer violates the ADA where it takes an adverse action, such as refusing to hire or denying promotion, against a mother of a newborn with a disability over concerns that she would take off a lot of time for the child's care or that the child's medical condition would impose high health care costs.

Benefits of Employment

An employer must provide the same benefits of employment to women affected by pregnancy, childbirth, or related medical conditions that it provides to other persons who are similar in their ability or inability to work.

• Light Duty Policies. An employer has to treat women affected by pregnancy, childbirth, or related medical conditions the same as other employees who are similar in their ability or inability to work with respect to light duty, alternative assignments, disability leave, or unpaid leave.
  • An employer that provides light duty to other employees cannot justify denying it to a pregnant worker just because it would be more expensive or less convenient to do so.
  • Even if a light duty policy does not specifically exclude pregnant workers, it may still violate the PDA if it imposes significant burdens on pregnant employees for which there is not a sufficiently strong justification. For example, providing light duty to a large percentage of non-pregnant employees with limitations while denying light duty to a large percentage of pregnant employees may be difficult to justify.
  • An employer:
    • may not single out an employee's pregnancy-related condition for medical clearance procedures that are not required of employees who are similar in their ability or inability to work,
    • may not remove a pregnant employee from her job because of pregnancy as long as she is able to perform her job, and
    • must allow her to return to work following recovery from a pregnancy-related condition to the same extent that employees on sick and disability leave for other reasons are allowed to return.

    The Americans with Disabilities Act

    Although pregnancy itself is not a disability, pregnant workers may have impairments related to their pregnancies that qualify as disabilities under the ADA. Amendments to the ADA made in 2008 make it much easier than it used to be to show that an impairment is a disability. A number of pregnancy-related impairments are likely to be disabilities, even though they are temporary, such as pregnancy-related carpal tunnel syndrome, gestational diabetes, pregnancy-related sciatica, and preeclampsia.

    An employer may not discriminate against an individual whose pregnancy-related impairment is a disability under the ADA and must provide an individual with a reasonable accommodation if needed because of a pregnancy-related disability, unless the accommodation would result in significant difficulty or expense ("undue hardship").

    Examples of reasonable accommodations that may be necessary for a pregnancy-related disability include:

    • Redistributing marginal or nonessential functions (for example, occasional lifting) that a pregnant worker cannot perform, or altering how an essential or marginal function is performed;
    • Modifying workplace policies by allowing a pregnant worker more frequent breaks or allowing her to keep a water bottle at a workstation even though the employer generally prohibits employees from keeping drinks at their workstations;
    • Modifying a work schedule so that someone who experiences severe morning sickness can arrive later than her usual start time and leave later to make up the time;
    • Allowing a pregnant worker placed on bed rest to telework where feasible;
    • Granting leave in addition to what an employer would normally provide under a sick leave policy;
    • Purchasing or modifying equipment, such as a stool for a pregnant employee who needs to sit while performing job tasks typically performed while standing; and
    • Temporarily reassigning an employee to a light duty