Pregnant Workers Fairness Act

Floor Speech

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Ms. DeLAURO. Madam Speaker, I rise in support of the bill, and I submit for the Record this letter from the National Partnership for Women & Families, a nonprofit, nonpartisan advocacy organization committed to improving the lives of women and families by achieving equity for all women. September 15, 2020.

The National Partnership for Women & Families is a non- profit, non-partisan advocacy organization committed to improving the lives of women and families by achieving equity for all women. Since our creation as the Women's Legal Defense Fund in 1971, we have fought for every significant advance for equal opportunity in the workplace, including the Pregnancy Discrimination Act of 1978 and the Family and Medical Leave Act of 1993 (FMLA). We write today in strong support for H.R. 2694, the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act. This bipartisan legislation will support pregnant workers on the job, improving women's and families' economic security and promoting healthier pregnancies.

More than 40 years ago, Congress passed the Pregnancy Discrimination Act of 1978, outlawing discrimination on the basis of pregnancy, childbirth or related medical conditions. Yet pregnancy discrimination is still widespread and impacts pregnant workers across industry, race, ethnicity and jurisdiction. Nearly 31,000 pregnancy discrimination charges were filed with the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) and state-level fair employment practice agencies between 2010 and 2015, and the reality of pregnancy discrimination is likely much worse than illustrated by EEOC charges. As a result of this discrimination, too many women must choose between their paychecks and a healthy pregnancy. That's not a choice anyone should have to make.

The Pregnant Workers Fairness Act would create a clear policy standard requiring employers to provide reasonable accommodations to pregnant workers. Support for a law like the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act is nearly universal and bipartisan. Eighty-nine perfect of voters favor this bill, including 69 percent of voters who strongly favor it. Just this Congress, twenty-eight leading private sector employers endorsed the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act in an open letter to Congress.

More than 85 percent of women will become mothers at some point in their working lives. And sometimes, an accommodation is needed in order for a pregnant worker to continue performing their job. Those accommodations are often small changes to their work environment such as additional bathroom breaks, a stool to sit on or the ability to have a water bottle at their work station. Although minor, these accommodations allow pregnant workers to stay in the workforce and continue to provide for themselves and their families. When pregnant workers are fired, demoted, or forced into unpaid leave, they and their families lose critical income, and they may struggle to re-enter a job market that is particularly harsh for people who are currently or were recently pregnant.

Pregnancy discrimination affects women across race and ethnicity, but women of color and immigrants are at particular risk. They are disproportionately likely to work in jobs and industries where accommodations during pregnancy are not often provided (such as home health aides, food service workers, package handlers and cleaners). Black women are much more likely than white women to file pregnancy discrimination charges; they are also at a higher risk for pregnancy-related complications like pre-term labor, preeclampsia and hypertensive disorders, making reasonable accommodations on the job even more important, and loss of wages and health insurance due to pregnancy discrimination especially challenging.

To date, thirty-one states including the District of Columbia and four cities have passed laws requiring employers to provide reasonable accommodations to pregnant workers. But the ability to maintain a healthy pregnancy and keep a job should not depend on where a pregnant person works. Women are a crucial part of the workforce and their participation matters for the growth of our economy and for the stability and wellbeing of families nationwide. The Pregnant Workers Fairness Act would strengthen existing federal protections, ensure more equitable workplaces and allow women to remain in the workforce and maintain their economic stability while having the accommodations necessary for healthy pregnancies. It is time to clarify and strengthen existing federal protections for pregnant workers by passing the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act. Sincerely, Debra L. Ness, President, National Partnership for Women & Families.

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Ms. DeLAURO. The bipartisan Pregnant Workers Fairness Act is vital for women like Regina Scates, a firefighter in Connecticut. She was placed on unrequested, unpaid leave when she got pregnant, even though she was still capable of performing light duty work. She was left to ask: ``How am I going to be able to feed my family?''

Today, 88 percent of first-time mothers work in the third trimester, yet an estimated 250,000 requests for reasonable accommodations go unheard and unapproved. And women of color are disproportionately impacted, being overrepresented in low-wage jobs where accommodations during pregnancy are not often provided, like healthcare aides and food service workers.

So we seek to build on the 1978 Pregnancy Discrimination Act, the first social policy ever to be enacted into law to provide protection to working mothers. And we must.

Decisions from the Supreme Court have made it exceedingly difficult for women to get reasonable accommodations under current law even when the adjustments could be as small as a chair and the stakes could be as enormous as a miscarriage or preterm birth.

It is modeled after the Americans with Disabilities Act. It establishes a clear-cut right to reasonable accommodations for all public sector employees and all private sector employees at companies with more than 15 workers.

This is not just an economic question. It is a moral question. Like many of you, I was horrified by reports that doctors at ICE detention centers performed hysterectomies on women without their consent. It is unimaginable. It is inhumane and diminishes, dehumanizes and disrespects women.

To all who preach a culture of life, to all who champion the dignity of work, I say let us seize the opportunity before us to protect life.

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Ms. DeLAURO. Madam Speaker, to all who preach a culture of life, to all who champion the dignity of work, I say, Let us seize this opportunity before us to protect life, to respect women, to protect pregnant women at work and to do so with the strength, not of just words, but with the strength of the law. Let us pass this bipartisan bill.

Ms. FOXX of North Carolina. Madam Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

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