Several laws provide rights and protections to covered employees in the legislative branch who are pregnant, postpartum, nursing, or who have pregnancy-related medical conditions. In some instances, applicants, interns and former employees may also have such rights.
Unlawful Discrimination
Title VII | Pregnancy Discrimination Act (PDA)
The Congressional Accountability Act (CAA) applies Title VII of the Civil Rights Act to legislative branch employees. Title VII prohibits, among other things, discrimination because of sex. The PDA amended Title VII to make clear that discrimination “because of . . . sex” includes discrimination based on current, past, or potential pregnancy, childbirth, and related medical conditions.
Unlawful discrimination can occur when an employer takes an employment action that results in a materially adverse change in employment status, such as termination, demotion, reduction in pay, or suspension without pay. Examples of unlawful discrimination based on pregnancy include subjecting a pregnant employee to a hostile work environment because of the pregnancy, or reassigning an employee who recently returned from pregnancy-related leave to less desirable work based on the assumption that, as a new parent, the employee will be less committed to the job.
Courts have held that nursing employees are also protected against discrimination, as lactation is a “related medical condition” for purposes of the PDA. Therefore, taking an adverse employment action because an employee is lactating or expressing milk may constitute unlawful sex discrimination under the CAA. 2 U.S.C. §§ 1311, 1313; sections 201, 203 of the CAA.
For more information on Title VII in the legislative branch, please see our page on unlawful discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex, or national origin.
Genetic Nondiscrimination Information Act (GINA)
The GINA provisions of the CAA prohibit requesting, obtaining, or disclosing employees’ genetic information (including genetic tests) or basing an employment decision on such information.
In the context of pregnancy, genetic information includes
- an individual’s request for, or receipt of, genetic services,
- the participation in clinical research that includes genetic services by the individual or a family member of the individual,
- the genetic information of a fetus carried by an individual or by a pregnant woman who is a family member of the individual,
- and the genetic information of any embryo legally held by the individual or family member using an assisted reproductive technology. 2 U.S.C. § 1302(c); section 102(c) of the CAA.
For more information on GINA in the legislative branch, please see our page on unlawful discrimination based on genetic information.
Reasonable Accommodation
Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) | Pregnant Workers Fairness Act (PWFA)
The ADA provisions of the CAA prohibit discrimination based on disability in the legislative branch. Generally, the ADA requires employers to provide reasonable accommodations for qualified employees with disabilities to enable them to perform the essential functions of their job. Although courts have consistently held that pregnancy, in and of itself, is not a disability within the meaning of the ADA, complications stemming from pregnancy may be, and thus pregnant employees may also be entitled to the rights and protections afforded to qualified individuals with other types of disabilities.
The PWFA clarifies that employing offices must provide “reasonable accommodations” to a covered employee’s known limitations related to pregnancy, childbirth, or related medical conditions, unless the accommodation would cause the employing office an “undue hardship.” Examples of reasonable accommodations include changing food or drink policies to allow a water bottle or food, or modifying a uniform, dress code, or office equipment, such as a chair. Employing offices must also provide reasonable accommodations for pregnancy-related disabilities. Examples of pregnancy-related disabilities include, but are not limited to, pregnancy-related diabetes, severe morning sickness, or preeclampsia that causes serious high blood pressure and may require flexible work hours, frequent breaks, or other work modifications that allow the employee to manage their symptoms and also work safely.
An employee may need different accommodations at different times during the pregnancy or after childbirth. A pregnant worker may not be forced to take leave as an accommodation if another reasonable accommodation can be provided that would allow the employee to keep working. 2 U.S.C. 1311; section 201 of the CAA; 42 U.S.C. § 2000gg.
For more information on the ADA in the legislative branch, please see our page on unlawful discrimination based on disability.
For more information on the PWFA in the legislative branch, please see our page on the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act.
Break Time and Private Space
Providing Urgent Maternal Protections for Nursing Mothers Act (PUMP Act)
The PUMP Act amended the Fair Labor Standards Act to require employing offices in the legislative branch to provide nursing employees reasonable break time and a private space, other than a bathroom, to express breast milk for 1 year after the baby’s birth. 2 U.S.C. §1313; section 203 of the CAA.
For more information on the PUMP Act in the legislative branch, please see our page on the Providing Urgent Maternal Protections for Nursing Mothers Act (PUMP Act).
Paid Parental Leave
Federal Employee Paid Leave Act (FEPLA)
FEPLA requires employing offices to provide covered legislative branch employees up to 12 weeks of paid parental leave in connection with the birth or placement of a child for adoption or foster care. The FMLA may also provide employees with unpaid, job-protected leave for certain family and medical reasons related to pregnancy, birth, or placement. 2 U.S.C. § 1312; section 202 of the CAA.
For more information on paid parental leave in the legislative branch, please see our page on the Federal Employee Paid Leave Act (FEPLA).
Safety and Health
Occupational Safety and Health Act
Occupational safety and health laws ensure that pregnant employees are protected from occupational safety and health hazards that may be especially harmful to them or their developing fetuses.
Several standards under the Occupational Safety and Health Act may be relevant to pregnant or lactating workers. For example, the hazard communication standards, found at 29 C.F.R. §1910.1200, require, among other things, that employees have ready access to safety data sheets and chemical inventories. Since many chemicals may be particularly harmful to developing fetuses, or to nursing infants by transmission through the employee’s breast milk, compliance with these standards is important to ensure that pregnant or lactating employees have access to information about hazardous substances in the workplace. Also, personal protective equipment (PPE) might no longer fit employees as their pregnancies advance. This includes not only protective clothing, which might not fit as the body’s dimensions change, but also potentially respirators, which might not work as well due to changes in lung capacity resulting from pregnancy.
For more information on occupational safety and health in the legislative branch, please see our page on the Occupational Safety and Health Act.
Protections Against Intimidation or Retaliation
It is unlawful under the CAA for an employing office to intimidate or retaliate against any covered employee for exercising their rights under the laws applicable to the legislative branch via the CAA, including Title VII, ADA, GINA, PWFA, FLSA/PUMP Act, FMLA/FEPLA or occupational safety and health laws.
A few examples of possible retaliation include transferring an employee’s portfolio to another colleague because she consulted with the OCWR about her rights as a pregnant or nursing employee, or firing an employee for requesting paid parental leave under FEPLA. 2 U.S.C. § 1317; section 208 of the CAA.
For more information on intimidation or retaliation in the legislative branch, please see our page on protections for exercising rights.