SimplyHR | Employment & Labor Blog 

A new federal law goes into effect June 27, 2023, related to covered employers’ obligations to provide pregnancy accommodations to employees and job applicants.

As we previewed in our 2023 Federal Employment Law Forecast, Congress passed the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act (PWFA) as an amendment to the government funding bill, which President Biden signed on December 29, 2022. The law charges the EEOC with issuing regulations interpreting the PWFA, although the EEOC has not yet indicated when it will do so.

Important update on the Illinois Paid Leave for All Workers Act: The Illinois Department of Labor (IDOL) has issued its first set of frequently asked questions addressing the Act, with more to come. The full FAQs can be found here, and a summary of key points is below.

Jennifer Abruzzo, general counsel for the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB), issued a memorandum on May 30, 2023, finding that except in limited special circumstances, non-competition agreements – including the act of merely giving employees non-competition agreements or maintaining existing ones – violate Sections 7 and 8 of the National Labor Relations Act (Act). The memorandum states, “Except in limited circumstances, I believe the proffer, maintenance, and enforcement of such agreements violate Section 8(a)(1) of the Act.”