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This is part of a series of articles by Wright Lindsey Jennings’ labor and employment team examining key trends for employers and the workplace in 2026, authored by attorney Jane Kim. The series was originally featured in Arkansas Business.
In view of recent developments at the Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), employers can expect to see a shift in the EEOC’s regulations and enforcement of the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act (PWFA), which went into effect in June 2024 and requires employers with 15 or more employees to reasonably accommodate conditions related to pregnancy and childbirth.
Specifically, in early October, the Senate confirmed Brittany Panuccio as an EEOC commissioner, giving the EEOC a three-person quorum for the first time since January. Additionally, last month, President Donald Trump appointed Andrea Lucas as chair of the EEOC.
Lucas, who had been acting chair since January, voted against the EEOC’s final rule implementing the PWFA, finding that it “fundamentally errs in conflating pregnancy and childbirth accommodation with accommodation of the female sex, that is, female biology and reproduction.” Lucas has publicly disagreed with the commission “extend[ing] the new accommodation requirements to reach virtually every condition, circumstance, or procedure that relates to any aspect of the female reproductive system,” including abortions.
Now that the EEOC has a quorum and the ability to take formal action with respect to prior approved guidance and regulations, the EEOC presumably will modify the existing PWFA regulations. Or the commission could revoke them entirely and then issue a new rule that more narrowly defines the circumstances under which workplace accommodations are required for pregnant employees or applicants.
Until then, employers should continue to comply with following key provisions of the PWFA:
- Employers are prohibited from holding an employee’s pregnancy against her and from making assumptions about what she can and cannot do.
- The duty to accommodate under the PWFA is similar to an employer’s responsibility to accommodate workers with disabilities under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). But an employee’s limitations do not need to rise to the level of a disability under the ADA to be eligible for an accommodation under the PWFA. The limitations can arise from a modest, minor and/or episodic problem that is impacting an employee’s ability to maintain their health or the health of the pregnancy.
- Reasonable accommodation under the PWFA may include temporary reassignment or — unlike the Americans With Disabilities Act — temporary suspension of an essential function of the job. This may require an employer to suspend an employee’s obligation to perform an essential job duty and reassign the task to another worker, so long as doing so does not create an undue hardship on the employer.
- Employers may only seek documentation to support a request for accommodation under the PWFA in situations where it is reasonable and necessary to determine if an employee is entitled to a reasonable accommodation — only when it confirms the physical or mental limitation,; confirms that the condition is related to, affected by or arising out of pregnancy, childbirth or related medical conditions; and describes the adjustment or change needed at work that is due to the limitation. Examples of situations where documentation would not be reasonable include: when the condition and need are obvious and the employee provides self-confirmation of same; when an employee seeks accommodation to carry extra water or take additional breaks to use the restroom, eat or drink; when an accommodation is related to nursing at work; or when an employee requests an accommodation that is regularly provided to employees outside of the PWFA.