New Pregnancy Protections Regulations in the Workplace for 2023: How Should Employers Comply?

The U.S. Senate passed two acts that help working moms who are pregnant or breastfeeding. The Pregnant Workers Fairness Act and the Providing Urgent Maternal Protections for Nursing Mothers Act (known as the PUMP Act) were added to the 2023 omnibus spending bill, which now passed the Senate and is headed for a House vote.

The PUMP Act
The PUMP Act for nursing mothers requires organizations to provide time and space for breastfeeding parents. The Affordable Care Act of 2010 already requires that employers provide reasonable time to express breast milk and provide a place for pumping, other than the bathroom, that is shielded from view and private.

Pregnant Workers Fairness Act
The second bill which helps mothers is the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act which requires employers to provide reasonable accommodation for medical conditions related to pregnancy and childbirth. The law states that employers can’t deny employment opportunities based on these pregnancy accommodations, and they can’t “require employees to take paid or unpaid leave if another reasonable accommodation can be provided.

The Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) requires employers to provide reasonable break time for an employee to express breast milk for their nursing child for one year after the child's birth each time such employee has need to express the milk. Employees are entitled to a place to pump at work, other than a bathroom, that is shielded from view and free from intrusion from coworkers and the public.

Employers should review their handbooks and other policies to ensure that they are updated to comply with these changes. In addition, employers should educate their supervisors and managers about the changes in the law to help avoid inadvertent missteps in the future.

Webinar Highlights

• Learn how the PUMP Act and Pregnant Workers Fairness Act helps employees and has challenges for Employers.
• Learn what the requirements are for the federal regulations and when they are effective.
• Learn how the American with Disabilities Act (ADA) reasonable accommodations plays a critical factor in both regulations.
• Learn what types of reasonable accommodation meet the guidelines and which will cause a hardship.
• Learn the compensation factor of the time employees use for expressing milk according to the Department of Labor’s Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA)
• Learn if the FLSA requirements covers all employers.
• Learn how states are increasing their requirements for changes in the federal requirements to provide expanded protections for employees.
• Learn how Employers need to make changes to employee handbooks and policies to comply with the new regulations.
• Learn how training managers and supervisors will help Employers comply with the new regulations.

Who Should Attend

• Business Owners
• Company Leadership
• Compliance professionals
• HR Professionals
• Managers/Supervisors
• Employers in all industries