Earlier this year, Pope Francis said, “Today, we should ask ourselves what we can do to recover the value of work; and what contribution we can make, as Church, [to ensure] that work can be redeemed from the logic of mere profit and can be experienced as a fundamental right and duty of the person, which expresses and increases his or her dignity.”
The Pregnant Workers Fairness Act (S. 1486) -- introduced by Senator Robert Casey of Pennsylvania -- would make the workplace safer for pregnant workers and their unborn children by requiring employers to provide pregnant employees with reasonable accommodations. Common requests made by pregnant women include a chair for jobs that require long periods of standing up, a modified schedule, light duty for jobs that require heavy lifting, being able to carry a bottle of water, or permission to take additional breaks to use the restroom or drink water.
Unfortunately, the current legal landscape does not require employers to provide pregnant workers with reasonable accommodations. Consequently, some pregnant workers are denied such temporary accommodations and are forced to take leave, are terminated, or experience other forms of retaliation.
No woman should be forced to risk her or her child’s health, miscarriage, preterm birth, economic security or losing insurance by being denied a short-term, reasonable, pregnancy-related accommodation. Please take action today and encourage your U.S. Senators to protect pregnant workers by advancing the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act.
SALT wishes to thank the USCCB Department of Justice, Peace and Human Development for providing the above text for this newsletter and call to action.