Urge Support for Strong Regulations for the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act!

No worker should be forced to choose between earning a paycheck, and a healthy pregnancy or safe recovery from childbirth.

The Pregnant Workers Fairness Act is a critical new law to ensure pregnant and postpartum workers can remain healthy and able to stay in the workforce, guaranteeing long overdue fairness, dignity, and equality under the law.

But the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act will only truly work for workers in this country if there are strong regulations that make its vital protections fully available. The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission's (EEOC) proposed a set of regulations that will do just that, providing workers and their families with the support they need and creating important clarity on the scope of the law.

Before this law, when pregnant workers requested a change at work, like a stool to sit on, access to water or rest breaks, or light duty, they were fired or pushed off the job, or forced to risk their health by working without needed accommodations. Ensuring the EEOC can enforce the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act to its full effect will put a stop to this injustice once and for all.

A Better Balance is proud to have spearheaded and led the fight to pass the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act for over a decade, and we remain committed to ensuring the law is meeting the needs of the workers who are most urgently depending on these protections. Please join A Better Balance and the community of workers who tirelessly fought for the passage of the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act in strongly supporting the EEOC's proposed regulations!
Dear Chair Burrows,

No worker should be forced to choose between earning a paycheck, and a healthy pregnancy or safe recovery from childbirth.

I join with A Better Balance and the community of workers who fought tirelessly for the passage of the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act over the last ten years to strongly support the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission's (EEOC) proposed regulations.

These proposed regulations offer important explanation and clarity to workers like me. They will help make the rights guaranteed by the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act a reality for those who are depending on them, including me or someone I care about, and ensure long overdue fairness, dignity, and equality under the law.

Before the law was passed, when pregnant workers requested a change at work, like a stool to sit on, access to water or rest breaks, or light duty, they were fired or pushed off the job, robbed of critical income, and forced into lasting economic disadvantage. Others were forced to keep working without needed accommodations--compromising their health and the health of their pregnancy.

Congress passed the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act, which is now in effect, to fix this injustice by creating a right to reasonable accommodations for pregnant and postpartum workers (and workers affected by other pregnancy-related conditions). The Pregnant Workers Fairness Act ensures pregnant and postpartum workers can remain healthy and able to stay in the workforce. This will help to address this country's maternal and infant health crisis, which is disproportionately impacting Black women and infants.

The proposed regulations clearly explain the scope of the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act. For example, the EEOC's proposed regulations appropriately recognize that an employee is still "qualified" for their job even if they need some of their job duties excused while pregnant, postpartum, or for related conditions. The proposed regulations also appropriately recognize that leave may be a reasonable accommodation, including intermittent time off for pre-natal and post-natal health care appointments, post-partum depression, and to recover from childbirth.

Finally, the proposed regulations protect workers who experience a wide range of conditions related to pregnancy and childbirth, including lactation, fertility, miscarriage, and abortion. These conditions have long been recognized as pregnancy-related conditions under current law. I urge the EEOC to keep these protections in its final rule.

I thank you for your efforts to protect the health and economic security of workers and their families, and I appreciate your acknowledgement of my comment in support of the proposed regulations.
Sign Petition
Sign Petition
You have JavaScript disabled. Without it, our site might not function properly.

Privacy Policy

By signing, you accept Care2's Terms of Service.
You can unsub at any time here.

Having problems signing this? Let us know.