Pregnant Workers Fairness Act

II Calendar No. 141 117TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION S. 1486 To eliminate discrimination and promote women’s health and economic secu- rity by ensuring reasonable workplace accommodations for workers whose ability to perform the functions of a job are limited by pregnancy, childbirth, or a related medical condition. IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES APRIL 29, 2021 Mr. CASEY (for himself, Mr. CASSIDY, Mrs. SHAHEEN, Mrs. CAPITO, Ms. SMITH, Ms. MURKOWSKI, Mr. KAINE, and Mr. GRASSLEY) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions SEPTEMBER 30, 2021 Reported by Mrs. MURRAY, with an amendment [Strike out all after the enacting clause and insert the part printed in italic] A BILL To eliminate discrimination and promote women’s health and economic security by ensuring reasonable workplace ac- commodations for workers whose ability to perform the functions of a job are limited by pregnancy, childbirth, or a related medical condition. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:21 Oct 01, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1486.RS S1486 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 2 •S 1486 RS SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 1 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Pregnant Workers 2 Fairness Act’’. 3 SEC. 2. NONDISCRIMINATION WITH REGARD TO REASON- 4 ABLE ACCOMMODATIONS RELATED TO PREG- 5 NANCY. 6 It shall be an unlawful employment practice for a cov- 7 ered entity to— 8 (1) not make reasonable accommodations to the 9 known limitations related to the pregnancy, child- 10 birth, or related medical conditions of a qualified 11 employee, unless such covered entity can dem- 12 onstrate that the accommodation would impose an 13 undue hardship on the operation of the business of 14 such covered entity; 15 (2) require a qualified employee affected by 16 pregnancy, childbirth, or related medical conditions 17 to accept an accommodation other than any reason- 18 able accommodation arrived at through the inter- 19 active process referred to in section 5(7); 20 (3) deny employment opportunities to a quali- 21 fied employee if such denial is based on the need of 22 the covered entity to make reasonable accommoda- 23 tions to the known limitations related to the preg- 24 nancy, childbirth, or related medical conditions of a 25 qualified employee; 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:21 Oct 01, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6401 E:\BILLS\S1486.RS S1486 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 3 •S 1486 RS (4) require a qualified employee to take leave, 1 whether paid or unpaid, if another reasonable ac- 2 commodation can be provided to the known limita- 3 tions related to the pregnancy, childbirth, or related 4 medical conditions of a qualified employee; or 5 (5) take adverse action in terms, conditions, or 6 privileges of employment against a qualified em- 7 ployee on account of the employee requesting or 8 using a reasonable accommodation to the known lim- 9 itations related to the pregnancy, childbirth, or re- 10 lated medical conditions of the employee. 11 SEC. 3. REMEDIES AND ENFORCEMENT. 12 (a) EMPLOYEES COVERED BY TITLE VII OF THE 13 CIVIL RIGHTS ACT OF 1964.— 14 (1) IN GENERAL.—The powers, remedies, and 15 procedures provided in sections 705, 706, 707, 709, 16 710, and 711 of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 (42 17 U.S.C. 2000e–4 et seq.) to the Commission, the At- 18 torney General, or any person alleging a violation of 19 title VII of such Act (42 U.S.C. 2000e et seq.) shall 20 be the powers, remedies, and procedures this Act 21 provides to the Commission, the Attorney General, 22 or any person, respectively, alleging an unlawful em- 23 ployment practice in violation of this Act against an 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:21 Oct 01, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6401 E:\BILLS\S1486.RS S1486 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 4 •S 1486 RS employee described in section 5(3)(A) except as pro- 1 vided in paragraphs (2) and (3) of this subsection. 2 (2) COSTS AND FEES.—The powers, remedies, 3 and procedures provided in subsections (b) and (c) 4 of section 722 of the Revised Statutes (42 U.S.C. 5 1988) shall be the powers, remedies, and procedures 6 this Act provides to the Commission, the Attorney 7 General, or any person alleging such practice. 8 (3) DAMAGES.—The powers, remedies, and pro- 9 cedures provided in section 1977A of the Revised 10 Statutes (42 U.S.C. 1981a), including the limita- 11 tions contained in subsection (b)(3) of such section 12 1977A, shall be the powers, remedies, and proce- 13 dures this Act provides to the Commission, the At- 14 torney General, or any person alleging such practice 15 (not an employment practice specifically excluded 16 from coverage under section 1977A(a)(1) of the Re- 17 vised Statutes). 18 (b) EMPLOYEES COVERED BY CONGRESSIONAL AC- 19 COUNTABILITY ACT OF 1995.— 20 (1) IN GENERAL.—The powers, remedies, and 21 procedures provided in the Congressional Account- 22 ability Act of 1995 (2 U.S.C. 1301 et seq.) to the 23 Board (as defined in section 101 of such Act (2 24 U.S.C. 1301)) or any person alleging a violation of 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:21 Oct 01, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6401 E:\BILLS\S1486.RS S1486 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 5 •S 1486 RS section 201(a)(1) of such Act (2 U.S.C. 1311(a)(1)) 1 shall be the powers, remedies, and procedures this 2 Act provides to the Board or any person, respec- 3 tively, alleging an unlawful employment practice in 4 violation of this Act against an employee described 5 in section 5(3)(B), except as provided in paragraphs 6 (2) and (3) of this subsection. 7 (2) COSTS AND FEES.—The powers, remedies, 8 and procedures provided in subsections (b) and (c) 9 of section 722 of the Revised Statutes (42 U.S.C. 10 1988) shall be the powers, remedies, and procedures 11 this Act provides to the Board or any person alleg- 12 ing such practice. 13 (3) DAMAGES.—The powers, remedies, and pro- 14 cedures provided in section 1977A of the Revised 15 Statutes (42 U.S.C. 1981a), including the limita- 16 tions contained in subsection (b)(3) of such section 17 1977A, shall be the powers, remedies, and proce- 18 dures this Act provides to the Board or any person 19 alleging such practice (not an employment practice 20 specifically excluded from coverage under section 21 1977A(a)(1) of the Revised Statutes). 22 (4) OTHER APPLICABLE PROVISIONS.—With re- 23 spect to a claim alleging a practice described in 24 paragraph (1), title III of the Congressional Ac- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:21 Oct 01, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6401 E:\BILLS\S1486.RS S1486 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 6 •S 1486 RS countability Act of 1995 (2 U.S.C. 1381 et seq.) 1 shall apply in the same manner as such title applies 2 with respect to a claim alleging a violation of section 3 201(a)(1) of such Act (2 U.S.C. 1311(a)(1)). 4 (c) EMPLOYEES COVERED BY CHAPTER 5 OF TITLE 5 3, UNITED STATES CODE.— 6 (1) IN GENERAL.—The powers, remedies, and 7 procedures provided in chapter 5 of title 3, United 8 States Code, to the President, the Commission, the 9 Merit Systems Protection Board, or any person al- 10 leging a violation of section 411(a)(1) of such title 11 shall be the powers, remedies, and procedures this 12 Act provides to the President, the Commission, the 13 Board, or any person, respectively, alleging an un- 14 lawful employment practice in violation of this Act 15 against an employee described in section 5(3)(C), ex- 16 cept as provided in paragraphs (2) and (3) of this 17 subsection. 18 (2) COSTS AND FEES.—The powers, remedies, 19 and procedures provided in subsections (b) and (c) 20 of section 722 of the Revised Statutes (42 U.S.C. 21 1988) shall be the powers, remedies, and procedures 22 this Act provides to the President, the Commission, 23 the Board, or any person alleging such practice. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:21 Oct 01, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6401 E:\BILLS\S1486.RS S1486 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 7 •S 1486 RS (3) DAMAGES.—The powers, remedies, and pro- 1 cedures provided in section 1977A of the Revised 2 Statutes (42 U.S.C. 1981a), including the limita- 3 tions contained in subsection (b)(3) of such section 4 1977A, shall be the powers, remedies, and proce- 5 dures this Act provides to the President, the Com- 6 mission, the Board, or any person alleging such 7 practice (not an employment practice specifically ex- 8 cluded from coverage under section 1977A(a)(1) of 9 the Revised Statutes). 10 (d) EMPLOYEES COVERED BY GOVERNMENT EM- 11 PLOYEE RIGHTS ACT OF 1991.— 12 (1) IN GENERAL.—The powers, remedies, and 13 procedures provided in sections 302 and 304 of the 14 Government Employee Rights Act of 1991 (42 15 U.S.C. 2000e–16b; 2000e–16c) to the Commission 16 or any person alleging a violation of section 17 302(a)(1) of such Act (42 U.S.C. 2000e–16b(a)(1)) 18 shall be the powers, remedies, and procedures this 19 Act provides to the Commission or any person, re- 20 spectively, alleging an unlawful employment practice 21 in violation of this Act against an employee de- 22 scribed in section 5(3)(D), except as provided in 23 paragraphs (2) and (3) of this subsection. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:21 Oct 01, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6401 E:\BILLS\S1486.RS S1486 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 8 •S 1486 RS (2) COSTS AND FEES.—The powers, remedies, 1 and procedures provided in subsections (b) and (c) 2 of section 722 of the Revised Statutes (42 U.S.C. 3 1988) shall be the powers, remedies, and procedures 4 this Act provides to the Commission or any person 5 alleging such practice. 6 (3) DAMAGES.—The powers, remedies, and pro- 7 cedures provided in section 1977A of the Revised 8 Statutes (42 U.S.C. 1981a), including the limita- 9 tions contained in subsection (b)(3) of such section 10 1977A, shall be the powers, remedies, and proce- 11 dures this Act provides to the Commission or any 12 person alleging such practice (not an employment 13 practice specifically excluded from coverage under 14 section 1977A(a)(1) of the Revised Statutes). 15 (e) EMPLOYEES COVERED BY SECTION 717 OF THE 16 CIVIL RIGHTS ACT OF 1964.— 17 (1) IN GENERAL.—The powers, remedies, and 18 procedures provided in section 717 of the Civil 19 Rights Act of 1964 (42 U.S.C. 2000e–16) to the 20 Commission, the Attorney General, the Librarian of 21 Congress, or any person alleging a violation of that 22 section shall be the powers, remedies, and proce- 23 dures this Act provides to the Commission, the At- 24 torney General, the Librarian of Congress, or any 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:21 Oct 01, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6401 E:\BILLS\S1486.RS S1486 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 9 •S 1486 RS person, respectively, alleging an unlawful employ- 1 ment practice in violation of this Act against an em- 2 ployee described in section 5(3)(E), except as pro- 3 vided in paragraphs (2) and (3) of this subsection. 4 (2) COSTS AND FEES.—The powers, remedies, 5 and procedures provided in subsections (b) and (c) 6 of section 722 of the Revised Statutes (42 U.S.C. 7 1988) shall be the powers, remedies, and procedures 8 this Act provides to the Commission, the Attorney 9 General, the Librarian of Congress, or any person 10 alleging such practice. 11 (3) DAMAGES.—The powers, remedies, and pro- 12 cedures provided in section 1977A of the Revised 13 Statutes (42 U.S.C. 1981a), including the limita- 14 tions contained in subsection (b)(3) of such section 15 1977A, shall be the powers, remedies, and proce- 16 dures this Act provides to the Commission, the At- 17 torney General, the Librarian of Congress, or any 18 person alleging such practice (not an employment 19 practice specifically excluded from coverage under 20 section 1977A(a)(1) of the Revised Statutes). 21 (f) PROHIBITION AGAINST RETALIATION.— 22 (1) IN GENERAL.—No person shall discriminate 23 against any employee because such employee has op- 24 posed any act or practice made unlawful by this Act 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:21 Oct 01, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6401 E:\BILLS\S1486.RS S1486 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 10 •S 1486 RS or because such employee made a charge, testified, 1 assisted, or participated in any manner in an inves- 2 tigation, proceeding, or hearing under this Act. 3 (2) PROHIBITION AGAINST COERCION.—It shall 4 be unlawful to coerce, intimidate, threaten, or inter- 5 fere with any individual in the exercise or enjoyment 6 of, or on account of such individual having exercised 7 or enjoyed, or on account of such individual having 8 aided or encouraged any other individual in the exer- 9 cise or enjoyment of, any right granted or protected 10 by this Act. 11 (3) REMEDY.—The remedies and procedures 12 otherwise provided for under this section shall be 13 available to aggrieved individuals with respect to vio- 14 lations of this subsection. 15 (g) LIMITATION.—Notwithstanding subsections 16 (a)(3), (b)(3), (c)(3), (d)(3), and (e)(3), if an unlawful em- 17 ployment practice involves the provision of a reasonable 18 accommodation pursuant to this Act or regulations imple- 19 menting this Act, damages may not be awarded under sec- 20 tion 1977A of the Revised Statutes (42 U.S.C. 1981a) if 21 the covered entity demonstrates good faith efforts, in con- 22 sultation with the employee with known limitations related 23 to pregnancy, childbirth, or related medical conditions who 24 has informed the covered entity that accommodation is 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:21 Oct 01, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6401 E:\BILLS\S1486.RS S1486 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 11 •S 1486 RS needed, to identify and make a reasonable accommodation 1 that would provide such employee with an equally effective 2 opportunity and would not cause an undue hardship on 3 the operation of the covered entity. 4 SEC. 4. RULEMAKING. 5 Not later than 2 years after the date of enactment 6 of this Act, the Commission shall issue regulations in an 7 accessible format in accordance with subchapter II of 8 chapter 5 of title 5, United States Code, to carry out this 9 Act. Such regulations shall provide examples of reasonable 10 accommodations addressing known limitations related to 11 pregnancy, childbirth, or related medical conditions. 12 SEC. 5. DEFINITIONS. 13 As used in this Act— 14 (1) the term ‘‘Commission’’ means the Equal 15 Employment Opportunity Commission; 16 (2) the term ‘‘covered entity’’— 17 (A) has the meaning given the term ‘‘re- 18 spondent’’ in section 701(n) of the Civil Rights 19 Act of 1964 (42 U.S.C. [Text truncated for display. Full text available on Congress.gov.]