Comply with new laws affecting pregnant workers, nursing moms.

Two new federal laws grant significant new workplace rights to pregnant employees and those who have recently given birth.

On June 27, the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act goes into effect. That federal law requires employers with 15 or more employees to reasonably accommodate pregnant workers who have temporary work restrictions. That same day, the EEOC will begin accepting complaints from workers alleging their employers aren't complying with the new law.

In addition, the PUMP Act took full effect on April 28. The law expands the right to take unlimited breaks to express breast milk for later use to feed an employee's infant.

Employers should make sure they're already complying with the PUMP Act and are ready to implement the PWFA. Here's what each requires:

Pregnant Workers Fairness Act

The EEOC is in charge of enforcing the PWFA and will issue regulations. These have not yet been completed and aren't expected to be in final form before the law's June 27 effective date. Until then, employers should consider applying the principles they currently use to establish ADA disability-related reasonable accommodations as they address employees' pregnancy-related accommodations requests.

Here's what the PWFA requires:

* Employers must engage in an interactive process to arrive at reasonable accommodations. They cannot require pregnant employees to take leave if another reasonable accommodation would enable the employee to continue working. Note: This is different from the requirements of the ADA, which allows the employer to pick the accommodation it prefers.

* Temporary pregnancy-related disabilities may include nausea and morning sickness; difficulty walking, bending, lifting and climbing steps; needing bed rest; and experiencing temporary medical complications such as high blood pressure and gestational diabetes.

* Possible reasonable accommodations include allowing more frequent rest periods, closer parking, flexible hours, permission to sit or drink water, additional bathroom and meal breaks, help lifting, being excused from strenuous activities and taking time off to recover from childbirth.

PUMP Act

The Department of Labor administers the PUMP Act, an amendment to the Fair Labor Standards Act. If you are covered by the FMLA, the new...