Transcripts For CSPAN3 Hearing On Pregnant Worker Rights 202

CSPAN3 Hearing On Pregnant Worker Rights July 13, 2024

The committee on education and labor will come to order. Hello, everyone. I note that a quorum is present. The committee is meeting in a legislative hearing to hear testimony on hr2694 the pregnant workers fairness act. I note for the committee that miss mcbath and mr. Cohen of tennessee are permitted to participate in the hearing. Members who sit on the subcommittee and are present shall have First Priority to ask questions followed by members who sit on the full committee and present and only after all Committee Members who are present have gone, shall members who are not on the committee of education and labor ask questions. Pursuant to the committee reel 7c, the Opening Statements are limited to the chair and the Ranking Member to allows us to hear from the witnesses sooner and provides all members can adequate time to ask questions. I recognize myself now for the purpose of making an opening statement. As a mom and a policymaker, i know how important it is to protect the Economic Security of pregnant women and working families. Unfortunately the current laws are inadequate, and the workers are placed on unpaid leave or not accommodated with a simple adjustment to keep their job during pregnancy. We are holding a legislative hearing on the pregnant workers fairness act. And this bill is going to take a step to make sure that pregnant women have a reasonable accommodation to stay in the workpla workplace. I would like to witnethank the witnesses being here to tell us what consequences they face when not provided accommodations. I want to thank the lead sponsor of the bill senator jerry nadler. Women will be pregnant at some time in their employment. And women are also breadwinners of the household and as a result more pregnant women work later into the pregnancies, and in fact, Research Suggests that more than 80 of the firsttime mothers will work until the final month of pregnancy and i know that i did. Pregnant workers may need reasonable accommodations to protect the health of both mother and baby. The reasonable accommodations can range from providing seating, water, light duty to excusing the workers from tasks that involve dangerous substances. They dot no need nor are they complicated or costly, but when the pregnant workers do not have access to the reasonable Workplace Accommodations, they are often forced between the Financial Security and the pregnancy, and the consequences can be devastating to their health and security. It is also important to note that women of color are overrepresented in lowwage physically demanding jobs and they are therefore disproportionately not given accommodations. Congress first agreed that pregnant women should have fair and equal treatment in the workplace when they passed the pregnancy discrimination act. The law clarified the discrimination against the pregnant workers is discrimination of sex under title vii of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. They would treat other workers as they would other impaired workers. Yet after the passage of the pregnancy act, the federal law is falling short of ensuring that the women have reasonable accommodations. Under the current law, the worker must show that the employer similar ly lly accommo other similar employees. And so even in the Supreme Court decision of young versus u. P. S. Which affirmed the workers rights of reasonable accommodations under the pregnancy discrimination act has not provided the workers or the businesses the Legal Certainty they need. Since young versus u. P. S. Approximately 70 of the courts have denied reasonable accommodations for pregnant workers. They continue to suffer discrimination at an alarming rate. According to the 2012 survey, more than 50 of workers have seen pregnant discrimination on the job. It can be losing a job or denying a promotion. To ensure they have a reasonable accommodation in the workplace is a crucial step to eradicating the discrimination, and without the federal protections of the workers several states from across the geographic political spectrum have taken place to fill the void. My home state of oregon is one helping to lead the way, and earlier this year, they hope to pass the bipartisan bill to provide reasonable accommodations with applications for related to childbirth and medical communication, if it is posing a undue hardship, and as of this month, 27 states and the district of columbia have allowed states with more than 15 employees to avoid accommodations, and bringing the certainty to businesses and costly disputes and importantly keeping the women safely on the job. And without a federal benchmark, the employers are left with a patchwork of laws to provide strong protections for some, and no protections for others. We have to make sure that others will provide reasonable accommodations in the workplace. That is why we are here today. This bill would establish a reasonable accommodation to the pregnant workers and to guarantee they would receive those accommodations without receiving retaliation in the workplace. This is an opportunity for congress to fulfill the promise that the pregnancy discrimination act and take an important step of gender Workplace Equity and the healthy pregnancies and the Economic Security of all parenting women and their families. I welcome this opportunity to work with my republican colleagues to mo thve this bill forward in a bipartisan manner. I would like to enter this from the International Union of teamsters and other 100 stakeholders in support of the fairness act, and so now i yield to mr. Gomer for opening statement. Thank you madam chairman. I want to welcome all of the witnesses here today and including my friend and kentuckian iris wilbuwilbur. Kentucky has been long in agreement that discrimination of any type should not be tolerated and no one should be denied an opportunity because of unlawful discrimination. That is why there are important protections under the law to prevent discrimination and including federal laws to protect pregnant workers. The americans with disabilities act prevents this discriminat n discrimination, and the pregnancy workers act outlaws discrimination, and a Supreme Court ruling said that employers must treat pregnant workers equally and fairly, and states including my state kentucky has passed laws to protect the pregnant workers. The equal Employment Opportunity commission has stated that ada requires employers to accommodate pregnancyrelated limitations. The republicans in congress have long supported meaningful and clearly defined protections for the pregnant workers to ensure they are not unlawfully discriminated against as it relates to pregnancy, childbirth or medicallyrelated conditions. We should promote policies in washington to allow a Strong Family and families to flourish and protect life at all stages. The purpose of americas nondiscrimination laws and the agencies enforcing them is to give all americans equal opportunities to succeed. That being said, overzealous Government Intervention causes more harm than good, and while we are committed to preventing and combatting the unlawful discrimination, and we should carefully examine legislation that could cause confusion and difficult to implement. We should prioritize the discrimination policies that are to qualify for job creators to flourish, and americas workplaces can be free from discrimination. The committee should review and evaluate the laws that are on the books that provide protections for the workers as well as the specific provisions of hr2694 before advancing legislation that could have unexpected consequences. The hearing today is a starting point in this regard. Bottom line, the pregnant workers should be protected and reasonably accommodated in the workplace. So ill look forward to hearing from the Witnesses Today as we examine the pregnant workers fairness act. Madam chair, i yield back. Thank you. Without objection, all other members who wish to insert the written statements into the record may do so by submitting them to the Committee Clerk electronically in a format. And congressman nad ler is the chairman of the House Committee on the judiciary and more than 30 years chairman nadler has been on the front lines for the fight for civil rights and a relentless defender of the countrys fundamental promise of equality for all. And congressman nadler has been playing a significant role in the rights of others and also in the reauthorization of the violence against womens act and he is the authorization of the fairness act and we appreciate the witness to be here today and look forward to the testimony. Let me remind the witness that we have read your record and it is pursuant to the Committee Rule 7d to limit your testimony to five minute, and before you begin, remember to press the button on the microphone in front of you, and as you begin to speak, it is going to be green and then it will turn to yellow when it is one minute to remaining and when it is red, your five minutes have expired and we ask that you wrap up. I now recognize chairman jerry nadler for the testimony. Thank you, chair bonamicci, and to talk about my fairness act, and this hearing as the title indicates is long overdue, and pregnancy discrimination is not a new issue, and as long as women have been in workforce, they have been fired, passed over for hiring and had the work cut back or forced out on leave when they were pregnant or started a family. In the last six months we have seen the multiple media reports of workers forced off of the job while pregnant because they needed a simple fix. Pregnancy is not a disability, but sometimes due to complications or even in the healthy pregnancies, workers need a reasonable accommodation such as a stool or limited contact with chemicals or reducing the amount of lifting. These accommodations are short in duration and provide little to provide. For millions of pregnant workers they are critical. A simple accommodation can be the difference of forced out of a job and forced out on lead, and losing paychecks and putting the pregnancyt a risk. And so there is an effort to stop employers from treating the pregnant employees this way. The law prohibited discrimination of childbirth or related conditions. Over the past 40 years, the courts have interpreted it to be treating the nonemployees well, you have to treat the pregnancy employees well and the inverse is true. If you treat the pregnant employees terrible, you have every right to treat pregnant employees terribly. The Supreme Court attempted to address how the pregnancy discrimination act was to work with the courts decision, but it only exacerbated the problem in the end. In young versus u. P. S. They found that a reasonable accommodation, the employer accommodated similar employees with the similar ability to not work. That test is a huge burden on the pregnant workers to require them to have medical knowledge of every other employ, and their need for accommodation is just as valid as the male counterpart who for example had a hernia. There is no way to get that information and prove the case. That is why a recent report from the better balance found that coincided with twothirds and the burden that it is facing on other women is insurmountabilli other bills have been introduced including last week of ms. Wahlberg and mr. Wagnor and this is the young test that if they must accommodate some employees they must do it in other ways and i am happy to make sure that pregnant workers receive the accommodations that they need to stay on the job, but the problem with young is that they require the pregnant workers to prove they have been discriminated againgainagainst in order to re accommodations. That is why i introduced the act. The bill is simple and has a referral to accommodation rather than relying on the model of discrimination. Using model of the ada and it is to provide reasonable accommodations to the workers as long as it is not imposing a undue hardship of the employer, and those are available for the childbirth or other related conditions including lactation. The courts know how to interpret that language. Three decades of the case law to guide them. The employers have similarly worked with the ada for decades and know exactly what the responsibilities will be, but most importantly, the women will have the certainty they can safely stay on the job as long as they choose during the pregnancy and keep their pay schpa paycheck and Health Insurance throughout. We have seen it to date where 27 states have passed the pregnancy accommodation laws in relation to the fairness act, and states like new york, and nebraska and kentucky and others have passed legislation to accommodate pregnancy in a bipartisan area. Today, it is supported by a broad range of labor, health, business and womens rights organizations. Thank you for chairman and rankk member geme comber, and i will forward to working with this committee to move this critical piece of legislation forward. Thank you, chairman nadler and thank you for testifying before the committee today and it is a valuable piece of the record. We will now seat the second panel. Thank you. Thank you for the smooth transition. And now our witnesses for the second panel. Kimberly Michelle Durham from alabama, and she made the trip here to washington, d. C. , to share her story and formerly an emergency medical technician in alabama, she was forced a off of the job when she became pregnant. Next is iris wilbur joined greater louisville, inc. The Metro Chamber of commerce in 2016. She serves as their Vice President of Government Affairs and Public Policy. In her role, she works on policy and legislation at the local, state, and federal levels to help advocate for the regions Business Community, and miss ellen mclauk lyghlin is a membe the labor and fair act department, and she is engaged in employment practice. And ms. Dena is cofounder of a better balance a leading National Legal Advocacy Organization head quartered in new york city and a better balance is dedicated to advancing the rights of working families and promoting fairness in the workplace and helping the workers across the economic spectrum to care for themselves and their families without risking Economic Security. We appreciate all of the witnesses for being here today and we look forward to the testimony. Let me remind the witnesses that we have read your written statements and they will appear in full in the hearing record. Pursuant to Committee Rule 7d and committee practice, each of you is asked to limit the oral presentation to a fiveminute summary of the written testimony. Let me remind you that pursuant to title 18 of the u. S. Code section 001 it is illegal to knowingly or willfully falsify any material to congress or conceal a material fact. Before you begin your testimony, please remember to press the button of the microphone in front of you. As you speak, the light in front of you will turn green and after four minutes lit turn yellow to signal one minute remaining and when the light is red, your five minutes have expired and please wrap up the testimony. We will let the entire panel to make their presentations before moving to questions. When answering questions, please turn on the microphone. And ms. Durham, you are recognized for five minutes for your testimony. Good morning. My name is Michelle Durham and im a mom from alabama. I wanted to thank the congresswoman and congressman and the subCommittee Members for having me here. I have lived my whole life in alabama and yesterday was the first time i have been on a plane. It is scary, but i was glad to make the trip, because i wanted you know what happened when i became pregnant four years ago. They say that pregnancy is supposed to be a time of ham piness, but mine was full of anxiety and fear, because i was sent home without pay by my employer right when i needed a paycheck the most. In march of 2015 when i was 22 i began working for Rural Corporation in gadston, alabama. I was an emt, and the first job after getting my certificate and i was excited to work. The plan was to gain experience and save up so i could continue my training and eventually become a paramedic. After i started to work with rural metro, i learned that i was pregnant with the first child and then i learned that i should not lift anything above 50 pounds, a standard patients which weighed 100 pounds without a patient on them, i knew i would would have to ask rural mel tomorrow to temporarily reassign me. I knew rural metro had a policy of giving light duty jobs to emts when they have problems like back injuries. I also knew they had dispatcher jobs available. I was very wrong. My manager told me the company only gave light duty jobs to emts who were injured while working. He told me my only option was to take an unpaid leave of absence. The Hr Department packed him up and told me i had to go home. I was shocked. I wanted to work. I loved my job. I really wanted to be an emt and i needed my paycheck. All i could think about was how i was supposed to live for six months without income of any sort. How was i supposed to prepare for my son to come home. I was afraid for him and for me. I soon realized i needed help and i called a lawyer in birmingham, heather leonard. She contacted the company and told them what they were doing was illegal. Rural metro never even responded to her. After that we went to the eeoc and then to court. My experience in the court system has been tough. The judge ruled against me and my case is on appeal. Ive got the aclu helping me and im very grateful for them. The truth is i didnt want to hire a lawyer and go to court. I wanted to keep wo

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