Lactation & Leave Laws

Lactation Laws

U.S. Lactation Laws: The Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) is a Federal law that requires employers to provide reasonable break time for an employee to express breast milk for their nursing child for one year after the child's birth each time such employee has need to express the milk. Employees are entitled to a place to pump at work, other than a bathroom, that is shielded from view and free from intrusion from coworkers and the public.

On December 29th 2022 the Providing Urgent Maternal Protections for Nursing Mothers Act (PUMP Act), which was signed into law providing further federal protections for nursing employees under the FLSA.  What does the law mean for you?

  1. Almost all breastfeeding employees are covered. The PUMP Act extends coverage to ~9 million more women of childbearing age who were not previously covered under the 2010 federal Break Time for Nursing Mothers law. Now employers must support all employees for one year following the birth of a child including healthcare workers, salaried employees, teachers, and more. Unfortunately at this time certain employees of airlines, railroads, and motorcoach carriers are exempt from nursing employee protections under the FLSA.

  2. Employers must provide reasonable break time.The law does not specify or limit the amount of break time required for pumping. As every mother is different in her frequency or duration needed to adequately pump, the law makes accommodation for variations in biology.

  3. Not any space is a private space. The PUMP act defines what private space means. Employers must provide accommodations with a space that is not a bathroom and must be free from intrusion and shielded from public view (including security cameras).

4. Paid to Pump. The law clarifies compensation structure ensuring that if an employee is still working, any break time taken to pump is considered hours worked and compensated accordingly. 

5. Includes the right to sue. The PUMP Act grants breastfeeding employees the right to file a lawsuit against their employer for non-compliance if the following steps have been taken:

  • Employer has been notified that they’re not in compliance. 

  • The employer then has 10 days to comply. 

  • Employees are not required to give employers 10 days to report non-space violations such as harassment or violations of break time. 

6. Protects against employer retaliation. Whether oral or written complaints are made internally to the employer or externally to the Wage and Hour Division, employees are protected. 

 

Note that if a company has 50 or fewer employees and compliance constitutes a “hardship” to the employer, the requirements can be waived. The burden of proof, however, is on the employer to show that enforcement of the law would cause “undue hardship.”

 

For more details on how the PUMP act can support you.

Did you know that employers are required by law to follow the lactation law (federal or state) that provides greater protections?

Make sure your employer is supporting your right to feed your baby.

U.S. Parental Leave Laws:

The Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) entitles eligible employees of covered employers to take unpaid, job-protected leave with continuation of health insurance coverage.

As applies to new parents that means 12 UNPAID workweeks of leave in a 12-month period for:

During Pregnancy

  • Job-protected leave for prenatal care or when an expecting mother is unable to work because of the pregnancy. 

  • For adoptive or foster parents, the FMLA provides a right to take leave for required counseling, court appointments and related travel prior to the foster care placement or adoption.

Birth and Bonding Time

  • A right to unpaid, job-protected leave for the baby’s birth or the placement of a child with adoptive or foster parents. This right is afforded not only for the birth, but for an extended time to bond with the child within the first year after birth or placement.

Make sure your employer is supporting your right to heal and bond

 

11 U.S. states offer qualifying employees additional maternity leave benefits:

 
 

California 6 weeks at 55% pay

Colorado 12 weeks at 90% pay

Connecticut 12 weeks at 95% pay

Delaware 12 weeks at 80% pay, max $900/wk

Massachusetts 12 weeks at 80% pay

Maryland 12 weeks at 90% pay, max $1000/wk

New Jersey 12 weeks at 85% pay, max $1025/wk

New York 12 weeks at 67% pay

Oregon 12 weeks at 100% pay

Rhode Island 4 weeks at 60% pay

Washington 12 weeks at 90% pay

3 U.S. states (Georgia, New Hampshire, and South Carolina) now offer paid parental leave for state employees.

To find out if you qualify for paid leave in one of the above states click the link.

Advocacy

 

As the U.S. DOES NOT MANDATE ANY FORM OF PAID PARENTAL LEAVE, it is difficult to impossible for many to take the medically necessary time to heal, learn and bond.

What we deserve is the Family and Medical Insurance Leave (FAMILY) Act. Employees would be to able to take paid leave in order to:

  • Address the employee’s serious health condition

  • Care for a family member with a serious health condition

  • Bond with a new child, including a newborn, adopted or foster child

  • Deal with the impact of a family member’s military deployment

  • Respond to needs arising whether the employee or their family member experiences sexual or domestic violence.

Learn more about the FAMILY Act and how you can support a better society for women and families.