Determining PWFA eligibility and reasonable accommodations

Q           Do employees have to be employed for 12 months or work 1,250 hours to qualify for the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act (PWFA), or do they qualify as soon as they begin employment?

No, employees don’t need to be employed for 12 months or work a minimum threshold of hours before they can qualify for protections and accommodations under the federal Pregnant Workers Fairness Act (PWFA) or the Colorado PWFA. Employees qualify immediately (provided the employer is a covered entity). In fact, by its terms, the PWFA applies even to job applicants. This is also true for Colorado’s PWFA.

Under the PWFA, employers must make reasonable accommodations for the known limitations of an employee or applicant, unless the accommodation would cause an “undue hardship”—i.e., significant difficulty or expense.

Further, employers may not: