Pregnant Workers Fairness Act

Floor Speech

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Ms. STEVENS. Mr. Speaker, just a few weeks ago, the Census reported that the U.S. population grew at its slowest rate since the Great Depression. Birth rates are falling for the sixth year in a row.

A recent Harvard Business Review study declared that the United States has the most family-hostile policies of any industrialized country in the world. This is a wake-up moment for us, and this is why H.R. 1065, the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act, couldn't be more important, particularly for the unheard, the suffering expectant mother who has to time when she can go to the bathroom.

I hear from teachers all across Michigan who explain this to me: the woman who is bleeding and bloating and wondering when she can check in with her doctor, and then being egregiously pushed out of the workplace.

We are talking about stools, we are talking about a place for a pregnant woman to sit in the workplace. That is why it is so joyous, Mr. Speaker, that this bill today is bipartisan.

Mr. Speaker, I include in the Record a letter in support of this legislation on behalf of the 1.4 million AFSCME workers. AFSCME, Washington, DC, May 11, 2021. House of Representatives, Washington, DC.

Dear Representative: On behalf of the 1.4 million members of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME), I urge you to support the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act (PWFA) (H.R. 1065). This legislation would ensure that pregnant workers get adequate accommodations when they need them without facing retaliation in the workplace. It also prevents employers from refusing to make reasonable accommodations for pregnant workers unless it poses an undue hardship on an employer.

More than four decades after Congress passed the Pregnancy Discrimination Act (PDA) of 1978, women still face inequality in the workplace when they become pregnant. While the PDA prohibits discrimination against employees based on pregnancy, childbirth or related medical conditions, pregnancy discrimination is still prevalent. In 2015, the Supreme Court ruled in Young v. UPS to allow pregnant workers to bring discrimination claims under the Pregnancy Discrimination Act (PDA) of 1978. The Young decision also set an unreasonably high standard for proving discrimination.

Research shows that 88 percent of first-time mothers worked during their last trimester. Employees who are pregnant are routinely denied water bottles, bathroom breaks, stools to sit on, and larger fitting uniforms to work in. Many of these hardships can lead to an increased risk of pre-term delivery and low birth rate. In addition, for far too many working women, being pregnant can still mean losing a job, being denied a promotion, or not being hired in the first place. And, while women are the majority of the U.S. workforce, these realities perpetuate challenges that no employee should have to face.

H.R. 1065 is also important because many pregnant women are front-line workers who hold physically demanding or hazardous jobs. Now more than ever, pregnant women working on the front lines and deemed essential by their employers face the risk of getting sick because of the coronavirus pandemic. Many of them also lack access to paid sick leave forcing them to choose between a paycheck and their health. At no time should anyone ever be forced to choose between financial security and a healthy pregnancy especially during the coronavirus pandemic with countless women working on the front lines. While many states have adopted laws requiring reasonable accommodations, current federal law does not plainly state that workers have a right to ask for them to reduce pregnancy complications without jeopardizing their employment. Pregnant women's lives and livelihood are on the line when they cannot work safely. This bill is essential to promote gender equity, healthy pregnancies, children and family wellness, and the economic security of pregnant and parenting women over the course of their terms.

AFSCME strongly supports H.R. 1065 and urges you to vote for its passage. Sincerely, Bailey K. Childers, Director of Federal Government Affairs.

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