Pregnant Workers Fairness Act (PWFA) Goes Into Effect

On June 27, 2023, the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act that was signed into law in December 2022 went into effect. Under the law, the PWFA requires “Covered employers” to provide “reasonable accommodations” for the workers limitations during pregnancy unless the accommodation will cause the employer undue hardships. According to U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), “Covered employers include private and public sector employers with at least 15 employees, Congress, Federal agencies, employment agencies, and labor organizations.” Some examples of reasonable accommodations that may be explored include:

• Altering scheduled break routines
• Changing of work schedules
• Variances to food and/or drink policies
• Scheduling for medical appointments or childbirth recovery

Click here to review additional information regarding the PWFA and for access to resources such as posters, videos, and training materials.

2023 OSHA 300A Posting and Reporting

Welcome to 2023! It’s time again to prepare, certify and post your OSHA 300A Annual Summary of workplace injuries and illnesses in your workplace? It’s required for all U.S. employers, except those with ten or fewer employees or those whose NAICS code is in the set of low-hazard industries that are exempt from OSHA’s injury and illness recordkeeping requirements. If employers in State Plan states (e.g. Washington) have questions about their obligation to submit injury and illness information, please contact your State Plan office.

Your workplace Annual Summary must be posted from February 1st to April 30th. Electronic reporting is also due by March 2nd for employers with 20 or more employees.

For the PDF versions of the OSHA 300 forms series, click here or for more information on OSHA 300 reporting click here.

New Extreme Heat Resources Launched

Extreme heat kills over 700 people annually and has been the greatest weather-related cause of death in the United States over the last 30 years according to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). On July 26, 2022, the current federal administration launched a new website to aid employers and decision makers in assessing the health risks of extreme heat. Heat.gov was launched through the interagency National Integrated Heat Health Information System (NIHHIS) and it provides a one-stop resource for national heat and health data.

Heat.gov provides decision makers with valuable tools to make decisions based on real-time and forecasted data. The website provides information on Climate and Health outlooks, Vulnerability mapping, National Risk Indexes, and many more. There is also a Heat Safety Tool app provided by OSHA and NIOSH to aid in outdoor activity planning. For more information regarding the app, click here.