Shortly before passing a $1.7 trillion omnibus spending bill, U.S. Senators voted to add amendments that could expand protections for pregnant and breastfeeding employees across the country.
Both amendments — an updated version of the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act, submitted by Senators Bill Cassidy (R-La.) and Bob Casey (D-Pa.), and the Providing Urgent Maternal Protections for Nursing Mothers Act, or PUMP Act, submitted by Sen. Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.) and Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) — passed with support from both sides of the aisle. The omnibus bill passed in the House of Representatives Friday, and now heads to President Joe Biden’s desk.
An expansion of federal protections for workers during and after their pregnancies is significant in Alabama.
The state is one of only four states without state-specific protection for pregnant workers in the United States.
Alabama also is one of 19 states that has no state-specific protection for workplace breastfeeding rights, according to the U.S. Department of Labor.
Staff members at A Better Balance, a national 501(c)3 advocacy organization focused on justice for workers, have been advocating for further legal protection of pregnant people for years.
“Alabama currently has no state-level legal protections to support pregnant workers on the job from discrimination” wrote Vice President Elizabeth Gedmark in a statement to AL.com.
“Passage of the federal Pregnant Workers Fairness Act for women and families in Alabama means not having to choose between your paycheck and your health while working and pregnant simply because of a need for a reasonable accommodation, like access to water or a transfer, on the job.”
The Pregnant Workers Fairness Act, which passed in the Senate 73-24, would provide “reasonable accommodations” for pregnant employees, as well as prohibit employers from requiring an employee to take a paid or unpaid leave if an accommodation option is available.
“If a woman is pregnant in the workforce, she can do her job and have a healthy and safe pregnancy,” said Casey Thursday. “That’s all this bill is about.”
Earlier in December, Cassidy said many states have specific protections in place, but those that didn’t left millions of American women unprotected.
Employees have been legally protected from “sex discrimination on the basis of pregnancy” by the Pregnancy Discrimination Act of 1978, which amended section 701 of the Civil Rights Act.
Under the Pregnancy Discrimination Act, employers with at least 15 workers are required to treat pregnant employees the same as any other temporarily disabled employee.
Pregnant workers may have the potential to receive certain accommodations, like light duty or modified tasks, under the Pregnancy Discrimination Act.
The Americans with Disabilities Act provides potential accommodations for workers whose pregnancies are impairing their ability to complete their jobs.
Pregnancy itself does not qualify as a disability under the ADA, but pregnancy-related complications, like developing gestational diabetes, could qualify.
The Pregnant Workers Fairness Act, however, would require employers to provide reasonable accommodations for “known limitations related to the pregnancy, childbirth, or related medical condition,” and also prohibit them from retaliating against pregnant workers who requested the changes.
Between fiscal years 2017-2021, 13,668 pregnancy discrimination charges were received by the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.
The PUMP Act, which passed the Senate 92-5, would expand provisions for breastfeeding workers in the Fair Labor Standards Act.
Currently, the FSLA provides breaks for certain workers to pump milk in companies with at least 50 employees based on a 2010 law. The FSLA provision only applies to workers that are not exempt from the section it was placed in, however, meaning that a large number of employees, such as many salaried workers, were not included in the protections.
A joint report from A Better Balance, the ACLU and the U.S. Breastfeeding Committee in favor of the PUMP Act, read that while the 2010 law was groundbreaking, it had gaps that left many mothers without clear protection.
“Unfortunately, the 2010 Break Time law’s placement within the part of FLSA that sets overtime meant that nearly 9 million women — nearly one in four women of childbearing age — are excluded from coverage and have no clear right to break time and space to pump breast milk under federal law,” the report read.
The PUMP Act would expand break and retaliation protections to cover salaried workers, as well as others who may previously have been exempt.
“The health benefits of breastfeeding are without question. What has been a question is a women’s protection at the jobsite to pump safely,” Sen. Murkowski wrote in a press release after the passage of the amendment.
“If a mother chooses to breastfeed her baby, she deserves the legal protection to do so without having to worry about it impacting her career.”
Advocates for women’s rights in Alabama are celebrating the passage of both acts.
“The overwhelming bipartisan passage of the Pregnant Workers Fairness and PUMP Acts is a triumph for women and families across the nation and right here in Alabama,” said Rachel Bunning, the vice president of external affairs at Women’s Foundation of Alabama.
“The legislators, business community and diverse coalition of advocates who made this moment possible are setting a clear standard in the New Year — access to reasonable pregnancy, childbirth, and lactation accommodations should never stand in the way of a woman’s financial security. Women’s Foundation of Alabama looks forward to building on this momentum as we advocate to enhance economic opportunity for all women in the new quadrennium.”
Now that the omnibus bill has passed both chambers, it awaits the president’s signature. President Biden has said he will sign the bill once it reaches his desk.
