134 The Pregnant Workers Fairness Act of 2023 (PWFA)

Under the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act (PWFA), employers, including the Postal Service, are required to provide reasonable accommodations to known limitations related to pregnancy, childbirth, or related medical conditions of a qualified employee, regardless of disability status for purposes of the Rehabilitation Act, unless it creates an undue hardship.

For the purpose of the PWFA, a “qualified employee” is one who, with or without reasonable accommodation, can perform the essential functions of the position. An employee will be considered qualified if:

• Any inability by the employee to perform an essential function is for a temporary period;
• The employee could perform the essential function in the near future; and
• The employee’s inability to perform the essential function can be reasonably accommodated.

Like the Rehabilitation Act, the PWFA includes an interactive process to determine the need for and availability of reasonable accommodation.

Additional information about the PWFA is available at eeoc.gov under “What You Should Know About the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act | U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.”