Sponsors (10)
The bill trades clearer, enforceable workplace protections and accommodations for people experiencing menopause — improving job retention, equity, and access to remedies — against higher compliance, administrative, and litigation costs for employers and government, with some fiscal and federalism implications.
Women and other employees experiencing menopause will have an explicit right to reasonable workplace accommodations (e.g., extra breaks, water, sit/stand, schedule adjustments) so they can continue working without being forced onto leave.
Employees with episodic or temporary menopause-related limitations are more likely to keep their jobs and pay because the bill treats intermittent inability as reasonably accommodable and discourages forced leave.
Employers, agencies, and workers gain clearer definitions, standards, and mandated federal guidance (with required timelines), reducing uncertainty about what menopause accommodations require and how they will be enforced.
Employers — especially small businesses — will face increased compliance, administrative, training, record-keeping, and accommodation costs to implement accommodations and new policies.
Expanding statutory protections and lowering documentation standards is likely to increase administrative complaints and litigation (against private employers and States), raising legal costs and enforcement burdens for employers, agencies, and taxpayers.
Overlap and interaction with existing laws (like the ADA, Title VII, and various enforcement schemes) could create complexity and uncertainty for employers and prolong dispute resolution.
Based on analysis of 9 sections of legislative text.
Requires covered employers to provide reasonable accommodations for menopause-related limitations, protects confidentiality, directs EEOC/OCWR rulemaking, and waives State immunity.
Creates a federal workplace protection requiring covered employers to provide reasonable accommodations for employees experiencing menopause, the menopausal transition, related symptoms, and medical effects unless the employer proves undue hardship. It defines covered terms, protects confidentiality, prohibits forcing leave when an accommodation is available, requires EEOC and congressional-office rulemaking, makes existing PWFA/CAA remedies available for covered employees, waives State sovereign immunity for enforcement, and provides a one-time $4.5 million appropriation for implementation. The law sets definitions and a non‑exhaustive list of typically reasonable accommodations, directs simple individualized assessments with limited documentation needs, mandates EEOC regulations within one year and OCWR regulations thereafter, and preserves existing statutory limits on damages and fee recovery where those rules apply.
Official title: To expand access for workers experiencing symptoms related to menopause and the menopause transition to reasonable accommodations that enable them to perform the essential functions of their job without risking their health or economic security.
Introduced July 14, 2026 by Debbie Dingell · Last progress July 14, 2026