In the recent $1.7 trillion Omnibus Spending Bill passed by Congress and signed into law by President Biden, two measures were included aimed at providing additional workplace protections for pregnant employees.

The first measure is the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act (the “PWFA”) which applies to employers with 15 or more employees. The PWFA extends the framework of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) to employees with known limitations related to, affected by, or arising out of pregnancy, childbirth, or related medical conditions regardless of whether the condition meets the definition of a disability specified in the ADA (a “qualified employee”).

Thus, employers receiving accommodation requests from qualified employees must engage in the interactive process and offer a reasonable accommodation if it does not result in an undue hardship to the employer. The PWFA also makes it an unlawful employment practice to deny employment opportunities to qualified employees if the denial is based on the need for a reasonable accommodation.  Further, an employer may not force an employee to take a leave if another reasonable accommodation can be provided. Finally, the PWFA prohibits retaliating against an employee for requesting or using a reasonable accommodation.

Also in the spending bill is the Providing Urgent Maternal Protections for Nursing Mothers Act (the “PUMP Act”). Currently, the FLSA requires that employers provide unpaid, reasonable break time and a place shielded from view and free from intrusion (not a bathroom) for non-exempt employees to express breast milk up to 1 year after the child’s birth.  There are similar laws in some states, including California. The PUMP Act expands this requirement to all employees covered under the FLSA including exempt (i.e., salaried) employees and also includes a new anti-retaliation provision. In addition to the existing exemption for employers with 50 or fewer employees if it would impose an undue hardship, there are also new exemptions for air carriers and a limited exemption for rail carriers.

Employers should review their existing accommodation procedures to ensure they are in compliance with the new laws. Employers should also look for forthcoming EEOC regulations within one year of passage of the PWFA and the Pump Act. The PWFA will be effective on June 27, 2023 (180 days after enactment) and parts of the PUMP Act will be effective immediately with the full law coming into effect on April 28, 2023 (120 days after enactment).

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Photo of Tony Oncidi Tony Oncidi

Anthony J. Oncidi is the co-chair of the Labor & Employment Law Department and heads the West Coast Labor & Employment group in the firm’s Los Angeles office.

Tony represents employers and management in all aspects of labor relations and employment law, including…

Anthony J. Oncidi is the co-chair of the Labor & Employment Law Department and heads the West Coast Labor & Employment group in the firm’s Los Angeles office.

Tony represents employers and management in all aspects of labor relations and employment law, including litigation and preventive counseling, wage and hour matters, including class actions, wrongful termination, employee discipline, Title VII and the California Fair Employment and Housing Act, executive employment contract disputes, sexual harassment training and investigations, workplace violence, drug testing and privacy issues, Sarbanes-Oxley claims and employee raiding and trade secret protection. A substantial portion of Tony’s practice involves the defense of employers in large class actions, employment discrimination, harassment and wrongful termination litigation in state and federal court as well as arbitration proceedings, including FINRA matters.

Tony is recognized as a leading lawyer by such highly respected publications and organizations as the Los Angeles Daily JournalThe Hollywood Reporter, and Chambers USA, which gives him the highest possible rating (“Band 1”) for Labor & Employment.  According to Chambers USA, clients say Tony is “brilliant at what he does… He is even keeled, has a high emotional IQ, is a great legal writer and orator, and never gives up.” Other clients report:  “Tony has an outstanding reputation” and he is “smart, cost effective and appropriately aggressive.” Tony is hailed as “outstanding,” particularly for his “ability to merge top-shelf lawyerly advice with pragmatic business acumen.” He is highly respected in the industry, with other commentators lauding him as a “phenomenal strategist” and “one of the top employment litigators in the country.”

“Tony is the author of the treatise titled Employment Discrimination Depositions (Juris Pub’g 2020; www.jurispub.com), co-author of Proskauer on Privacy (PLI 2020), and, since 1990, has been a regular columnist for the official publication of the Labor and Employment Law Section of the State Bar of California and the Los Angeles Daily Journal.

Tony has been a featured guest on Fox 11 News and CBS News in Los Angeles. He has been interviewed and quoted by leading national media outlets such as The National Law JournalBloomberg News, The New York Times, and Newsweek and Time magazines. Tony is a frequent speaker on employment law topics for large and small groups of employers and their counsel, including the Society for Human Resource Management (“SHRM”), PIHRA, the National CLE Conference, National Business Institute, the Employment Round Table of Southern California (Board Member), the Council on Education in Management, the Institute for Corporate Counsel, the State Bar of California, the California Continuing Education of the Bar Program and the Los Angeles and Beverly Hills Bar Associations. He has testified as an expert witness regarding wage and hour issues as well as the California Fair Employment and Housing Act and has served as a faculty member of the National Employment Law Institute. He has served as an arbitrator in an employment discrimination matter.

Tony is an appointed Hearing Examiner for the Los Angeles Police Commission Board of Rights and has served as an Adjunct Professor of Law and a guest lecturer at USC Law School and a guest lecturer at UCLA Law School.