Recent updates to federal laws aimed at protecting pregnant and nursing employees have prompted the U.S. Department of Labor and U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission to issue updated posters for employers to display in the workplace, along with guidance on compliance.
In April, the DOL published an updated Employee Rights Under the Fair Labor Standards Act, which must be displayed in a conspicuous place where employees can readily read it. The revised poster includes information about the PUMP Act, a 2022 law requiring employers to give lactating workers reasonable break time and a private place to pump breast milk at work for up to one year after their child’s birth.
Employers must remove the 2016 version of the FLSA poster in their workplaces and replace it with the revised version, which can be downloaded from the Department of Labor’s website here. Additional employer guidance on the Pump Act can be found in the May 17 DOL Field Assistance Bulletin here.
The federal Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) has also updated its Know Your Rights: Workplace Discrimination is Illegal poster to incorporate the provisions of the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act (PWFA), which takes effect on June 27, 2023. The PWFA will require covered employers to provide “reasonable accommodations” to employees’ known limitations related to pregnancy, childbirth or a related medical condition unless the accommodations will cause undue hardship to the business.
The updated two-page poster can be downloaded in English and Spanish from the EEOC website here. Employers may continue using the October 2022 version of this poster until June 27 when the PWFA takes effect. For additional employer guidance on the PWFA, visit the EEOC’s “What You Should Know about the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act” webpage here.
