Before June 2023, a pregnant worker in a legal no-man’s land had few options. If her employer had no comparable non-pregnant employee to point to, the Pregnancy Discrimination Act of 1978 offered little help. If her condition wasn’t disabling enough for the Americans with Disabilities Act, that door closed too. Common but genuinely difficult conditions: severe morning sickness, edema, a lifting restriction tied to placenta position gave her no clear federal right to accommodation. The Pregnant Workers Fairness Act closed that gap.
The law took effect June 27, 2023, and the EEOC issued its final regulations on April 15, 2024, effective June 18, 2024. Florida workers are already filing charges under it, and Florida employers are already paying to settle them. We’ve represented employees across South Florida asserting their workplace rights for nearly 40 years. What follows is a plain-language explanation of what the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act actually does, who it covers, and what your options are if your employer isn’t following it.
What the PWFA Changed & Why It Matters
The Pregnancy Discrimination Act required employers to treat pregnant workers the same as “similarly situated” non-pregnant workers. That sounds reasonable until you realize courts routinely denied accommodations when no comparable non-pregnant employee existed. An employer could say, truthfully, that it didn’t give light duty to anyone, so it didn’t have to give it to a pregnant worker either. The Pregnant Workers Fairness Act eliminated that comparison entirely. The accommodation right now stands on its own.
The ADA required a qualifying disability, and pregnancy itself doesn’t meet that definition. Workers dealing with gestational diabetes, severe fatigue, or a doctor’s instruction not to lift more than 20 pounds often couldn’t clear the ADA’s threshold. The Pregnant Workers Fairness Act introduced a different, lower standard: a “known limitation” tied to pregnancy, childbirth, or related medical conditions. That phrase does significant work, and understanding it is the key to understanding the law.
Who Is Covered & What Conditions Qualify
The Pregnant Workers Fairness Act applies to employers with 15 or more employees, including part-time workers. Congress, federal agencies, employment agencies, and labor organizations are also covered. Florida workers whose employer meets that threshold are protected regardless of tenure. There’s no length-of-service requirement.
A “known limitation” under the law doesn’t have to meet the ADA’s definition of disability. It includes physical or mental conditions that are modest, minor, or episodic, meaning uncomplicated pregnancies qualify, not just high-risk ones. A worker doesn’t have to be currently pregnant to have rights under this law. Conditions before, during, and after pregnancy all fall within its scope.
The EEOC has confirmed coverage for the following conditions:
- Morning sickness
- Edema
- Gestational diabetes
- Postpartum depression
- Miscarriage recovery
- Stillbirth recovery
- Lactation
- Infertility treatments
What Reasonable Accommodations Look Like in Practice
The EEOC identifies several accommodations that are virtually always reasonable and almost never constitute undue hardship. According to the final rule, these carry a near-automatic presumption of reasonableness:
- Allowing an employee to carry or keep water nearby and drink as needed
- Providing additional restroom breaks
- Allowing an employee whose work requires standing to sit (or whose work requires sitting to stand)
- Allowing breaks to eat and drink
The EEOC’s final regulations also list accommodations employers may be required to provide: telework, temporary reassignment to a different role, light duty, modified schedules, part-time hours, closer parking, appropriately sized uniforms, and the temporary suspension of one or more essential job functions. That last category matters. An employer may be required to temporarily relieve a worker of a task she can’t safely perform during pregnancy, even if that task is listed in her job description.
One of the most practically significant protections in the law addresses forced leave. An employer can’t require a pregnant employee to take paid or unpaid leave if another accommodation would allow her to continue working. Leave is a last resort under the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act, not a first response. Pushing a worker out the door “for her own good” violates the law if a workstation modification or schedule adjustment would have been sufficient.
How Accommodation Requests Work
Once an employee communicates a pregnancy-related limitation to her employer, that communication triggers the employer’s obligation. She doesn’t need to use the words “reasonable accommodation” or cite the statute by name. Telling her supervisor she can’t lift heavy boxes because of her pregnancy is enough to start the clock. The employer must then engage in a timely, good-faith interactive process. Ignoring the request, denying it without discussion, or routing it to HR and letting it sit aren’t compliant responses.
On documentation, the EEOC final rule is direct: if the limitation and the need for accommodation are obvious, the employer can’t demand a doctor’s note. A visibly pregnant worker requesting a stool or a larger uniform doesn’t have to produce medical records to justify that request. Her own statement is sufficient. Where documentation is appropriate, it must be kept confidential under standards equivalent to those the ADA imposes for disability-related medical information.
Florida Employers Are Already Being Held Accountable
Enforcement in Florida has moved quickly. Health and Behavior Dimensions, Inc., a behavioral health provider in Hallandale Beach, was cited by the EEOC’s Miami District Office after firing a pregnant employee the same day she requested an accommodation. The company didn’t engage in the interactive process at all. It paid $35,000 to resolve the charge.
Lago Mar Properties, a South Florida resort, entered a federal consent decree in October 2024 as one of the first Pregnant Workers Fairness Act lawsuit settlements in the country. The case involved a cook who requested six weeks to recover from a stillbirth. She was terminated. Filed in the Southern District of Florida, the settlement required $100,000 in compensation along with mandatory training for management and HR staff.
In December 2025, EEOC Tampa Field Office Director Tamra Schweiberger confirmed that many Florida employers still haven’t provided adequate training on the law. Non-compliance isn’t a relic of early implementation. It’s ongoing. The EEOC Miami District Office, which has jurisdiction over Florida, Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands, is actively investigating and litigating charges filed by Florida workers.
What to Do If Your Employer Denies Your Request
A denial isn’t the end of the road, but how you respond matters. Start by documenting the request in writing if you haven’t already: send a follow-up email summarizing what you asked for, who you spoke with, and when. Note any response you received, or the absence of one. Preserve texts, emails, and any written policies your employer cited in refusing. This record becomes the foundation of any charge or lawsuit that follows.
The Pregnant Workers Fairness Act includes a private right of action, meaning a worker can file a lawsuit directly against her employer after exhausting the EEOC process. Available remedies can include back pay, compensatory damages, and injunctive relief ordering the employer to provide the accommodation or reinstate the employee. In Florida, the deadline to file a charge with the EEOC is 300 days from the date of the discriminatory act. Missing that window forfeits the right to pursue a federal claim. Florida workers also have parallel protections under the Florida Civil Rights Act, which prohibits pregnancy discrimination by covered employers and provides an additional avenue for relief.
Pregnancy discrimination, including the unlawful denial of accommodations, is exactly the kind of workplace injustice our attorneys have been fighting for nearly 40 years. If you believe your rights under the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act have been violated, our pregnancy discrimination attorneys at The Amlong Firm are ready to review your situation. Call us at (954) 953-5490.