03/16/2023
BREAKS FOR NURSING MOTHERS – PAID OR UNPAID? Employers are required to provide “reasonable break time” for an employee to express breast milk for up to 1 year after her child’s birth, each time she needs to express milk. The frequency and duration of the breaks will vary and must be considered on a case-by-case basis. Employers must provide a place, other than a bathroom, that is out of view and free from intrusion of others, for the employee to express milk. There is a limited exemption for employers with less than 50 employees if these requirements would impose undue hardship by causing the employer significant difficulty or expense when considered in relation to the size, financial resources, nature or structure of the employer’s business. However, this is a stringent standard, so employers should make every effort to accommodate nursing mothers (also because it’s the right thing to do!). The recently enacted PUMP Act expanded the scope of coverage to include exempt employees.
Employers are not required under the Fair Labor Standards Act to compensate nursing mothers for breaks taken for the purpose of expressing breast milk. However, if the employer provides paid breaks, an employee who uses that time to express milk must be compensated for the break. As with unpaid meal breaks, the employee must be relieved of all duties while pumping or the break time is considered time worked and the employee must be paid for the time.
