I’m pregnant and my manager started cutting my shifts. Can they do that?

Step by step

Say you’re 5 months along, you’ve always worked 5 dinner shifts a week, and since you told your manager you’re pregnant you’ve been getting 2 (illustrative).

1. 1Write down the before and after. Your usual shifts, the date you told your manager, and the schedules since. Keep screenshots of the posted schedules.
2. 2Ask what’s changed, in writing. A short, neutral text or email is enough. It gives you a dated record of the answer.
3. 3Say what you need, if anything. EEOC says you don’t need special words. Tell your employer about the limitation and the change you need at work.
4. 4Keep the replies. Save texts, emails, and the names of anyone you talked to, with dates.
5. 5If it doesn’t get fixed, contact EEOC early. Call 1-800-669-4000 or start an inquiry on the EEOC Public Portal. EEOC says there are strict time limits for filing.

Not tax or legal advice. Names and shifts are made up. This page covers federal law; your state or city may give you more protection.

Plain English

Cutting your hours because you’re pregnant

EEOC enforces three federal laws that protect pregnant workers. The first is Title VII, as amended by the Pregnancy Discrimination Act. It bars sex discrimination, including pregnancy discrimination, and EEOC says it covers hiring, pay, job assignments, promotions, training, benefits, and “firing from a job, reduction of hours, layoff, or termination of employment.”

Pregnancy discrimination under Title VII can be based on a current, past, or potential pregnancy, or on a medical condition related to pregnancy or childbirth, including breastfeeding. Title VII also requires employers to treat pregnant workers the same as others who are similar in their ability or inability to work. Harassing a worker because of pregnancy is illegal too.

Retaliation is illegal as well. EEOC says Title VII, the PWFA, and the ADA protect workers who oppose discrimination or take part in the EEO process.

Accommodations: the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act

The PWFA took effect on June 27, 2023. It requires a covered employer to make a “reasonable accommodation” for a worker’s known limitations related to pregnancy, childbirth, or related medical conditions, unless it would be an “undue hardship,” which EEOC defines as significant difficulty or expense. It applies to private employers with 15 or more employees.

EEOC’s examples of possible accommodations include:

• Additional, longer, or more flexible breaks to drink water, eat, rest, or use the restroom.
• Changing food or drink policies to allow a water bottle or food.
• A stool to sit on, or a way to work while standing.
• Changing a uniform or dress code, or safety equipment that fits.
• Changing a schedule, such as shorter hours, part-time work, or a later start.
• Temporary reassignment, or temporarily suspending one or more essential functions of the job.
• Light duty or help with lifting or other manual labor.
• Leave for health care appointments, and leave to recover from childbirth.

EEOC says a limitation can be minor, and it can come and go, like morning sickness. It can also be something you need for your health or the pregnancy’s, such as not working in the heat, or limiting lifting, bending, walking, standing, or running.

Under the PWFA, a covered employer must not:

• Require you to take leave if another reasonable accommodation would let you keep working.
• Deny you a job or other opportunities because you need an accommodation.
• Make you accept an accommodation you didn’t work out together through the “interactive process.”
• Punish or retaliate against you for asking for or using an accommodation.

Does your manager need a doctor’s note?

Often not. EEOC says it isn’t reasonable to ask for medical documentation when you’re currently pregnant and need breaks for the bathroom or to eat or drink, need to carry water, or need to sit or stand. It also isn’t reasonable when the need is obvious, or when the employer already knows about it. When a note is allowed, it’s limited to confirming the condition, that it’s related to pregnancy, and the change you need at work. For sick-day notes in general, see can my employer require a doctor’s note?

Pumping at work after the baby comes

Under the PUMP Act, part of the Fair Labor Standards Act, DOL says most employees can take reasonable break time to pump breast milk each time they need to, for one year after the child’s birth. The employer has to provide a place, other than a bathroom, that’s shielded from view and free from intrusion from coworkers and the public. Break time has to be paid unless you’re completely relieved from duty. Employers with fewer than 50 employees don’t have to follow the break and space rules if it would impose an undue hardship.

Leave: the FMLA

The Family and Medical Leave Act gives eligible employees up to 12 workweeks of unpaid, job-protected leave in a 12-month period, including for the birth of a child and for a serious health condition that makes you unable to work. You’re eligible only if you’ve worked for the employer at least 12 months, have at least 1,250 hours in the 12 months before the leave, and work at a location where the employer has at least 50 employees within 75 miles. If you don’t meet all three, the FMLA doesn’t apply to you, but the PWFA still can.

Filing a charge with EEOC

EEOC says there are strict time limits. You have 180 calendar days to file a charge, extended to 300 calendar days if a state or local agency enforces a law against the same kind of discrimination. Start with an inquiry on the EEOC Public Portal, or call 1-800-669-4000. If your deadline is close, EEOC says to call and ask for an immediate interview.

EEOC notes that more than 30 states and cities have their own laws requiring accommodations for pregnant workers, so your state may give you more. DOL keeps a list of state labor offices.