Pregnant Workers Fairness Act (PWFA) – California employers often don’t need to pay attention to federal employment rules because we have more stringent requirements. However, California employers must now pay attention to the new federal EEOC regulation for the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act. This regulation is even more protective in some ways than California’s Pregnancy Disability Leave law and FEHA/ADA requirements. On April 19, 2024, the EEOC’s rule became final and it will go into effect 60 days from April 19. That means the regulation goes into effect on June 18, 2024. The PWFA applies to employers with 15 or more employees. You can find a summary of the regulation at the EEOC’s website.

The additional new requirements will require employers with 15 or more employees to:

• Temporarily suspend essential job functions
• Provide certain “predictable assessments” (e.g., accommodations such as carrying water, additional or longer meal and restroom breaks, etc.)
• Prohibit a request for medical certification in certain instances, such as the “predictable” accommodations noted.

Workplace Violence Prevention Program (WVPP) – Additionally, you have probably heard by now about this program per California Senate Bill 553 which takes effect on July 1, 2024.

Employers that fall within the scope of this law must establish, implement, and maintain an effective written Workplace Violence Prevention Plan that includes but is not limited to the following:

• Identifying who is responsible for implementing the plan
• Involving employees and their representatives
• Accepting and responding to reports of workplace violence and prohibit employee retaliation
• Communicating with employees regarding workplace violence matters
• Responding to actual and potential emergencies
• Developing and providing effective training
• Identifying, evaluating, and correcting workplace violence hazards
• Performing post incident response and investigations

All California employers must identify and correct workplace hazards in a timely manner and provide effective training to their employees to prevent injuries from occurring as a result of their employment.

In addition, every employer must immediately report to Cal/OSHA any serious injury or illness, or death, of an employee occurring in a place of employment or in connection with any employment, and this includes incidents resulting from workplace violence.

Cal/Osha’s fact sheet can be found here: https://www.dir.ca.gov/dosh/dosh_publications/WPV-General-Industry-for-workers-fs.pdf

If you have any questions or need help understanding how this may affect your business, give FLORES a call. Contact us at (619) 588-2411.