An official from the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) said recently that the coverage of the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act (PWFA) is not gender-specific. The EEOC declined to elaborate, so the Center for Workplace Compliance (CWC), our affiliated nonprofit membership association, wrote an analysis of whether and how the PWFA could apply to people who do not identify as women. The PWFA requires a reasonable accommodation by an employer for anyone who might become pregnant, regardless of gender, so the statute could apply to a person who identifies as non-binary or to a transgender man. Furthermore, the PWFA might apply to a spouse or partner of a pregnant individual in some circumstances. CWC’s analysis discusses whether it would protect a male employee’s right to an accommodation to receive treatment for fertility issues or for postpartum depression after his spouse or partner gave birth. The EEOC has already received more than 40,000 public comments on the proposed rule, so it may be a challenge for the agency to issue the final rule by the statutory deadline of December 29, 2023.
CWC members can read more here.