Employers must give their employees time off for abortion or pregnancy care, according to the final federal rules

Employers must give their employees time off for abortion or pregnancy care, according to the final federal rules

Most employers must offer “reasonable accommodations” to employees related to pregnancy or childbirth, including providing time off for abortions, according to final rules issued Monday by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.

The rule clarifies provisions of the Pregnant Employee Equality Act, which became law last June after Congress passed it as part of the federal government’s spending package by the end of 2022. The measure applies to employers with at least 15 employees unless the accommodation would cause “no proper hardship” for the employer.

The law provides various protections to pregnant and postpartum workers, including time off for recovery from childbirth, prenatal or postpartum appointments and postpartum depression and accommodations related to seating, light duty, breaks for food, water and toilet needs , breastfeeding and miscarriage. Employers are not required to offer paid leave.

The question of including abortion in the act’s definition of “pregnancy, childbirth, or related medical condition” sparked a flood of comments to the commission, with about 54,000 of them urging the commission to exclude abortion and about 40,000 comments asking to include it. The agency stated in the rule that the law cannot be used to require employment-based health plans to pay for any procedure, including abortion. It states that the act is an anti-discrimination law in the workplace.

“With respect to abortion, the PWFA’s requirements are narrow and likely only involve requests by qualified employees to take time off from work,” the commission said in a statement.

The final rule clarifies for employers and covered employees, the types of limitations and covered medical conditions and how employees can request reasonable accommodations. It also provides many examples of accommodations and encourages employers and employees to communicate early and often about such requests.

Advocates have fought to increase federal protections for pregnant workers for more than a decade, saying that the Pregnancy Discrimination Act is inadequate and that most pregnancy-related conditions are not considered disabilities under the Americans with Disabilities Act. The US Chamber of Commerce is among the supporters of the law.

“Today with this final rule, we have taken a major step forward for women’s economic security, maternal health and the economy as a whole,” Dina Bakst, co-president of A Better Balance, a national legal advocacy organization, said in a statement. . “The Pregnant Workers Equality Act is a life-changing protection for pregnant and postpartum workers across the country, ensuring they are not forced out of work or denied the accommodations they need for their health.”