New York State employees have certain protected rights when it comes to expressing breast milk in the workplace. Here is what employers need to know.
New York State Breast Milk Expression in the Workplace
This law applies to all public and private employers in New York State no matter how many employees or the size of the business.
First and foremost, the law sets a minimum standard policy for lactation accommodations. However, employers should consider providing additional accommodations, as lactation accommodations can have a large impact on employee mental health.
UPDATE: As of June 19th, 2024 employers must now provide up to 30 minutes of paid lactation breaks for an employee to express breast milk, in addition to any other regularly paid break times.
Employer Requirements
Under New York's Lactation Accommodation requirements, employers are required to provide up to 30 minutes of paid break time for their employees to express breast milk, up to three years following childbirth.
Employers may not discriminate in any way against an employee exercising their rights under this law.
It is also important that employers understand it is required to inform employees and new hires of their rights under this law, which can be done via an employee handbook.
Lactation Room Requirements
There are also certain requirements regarding the rooms or locations designated for expressing breast milk.
Generally, such a room or location must:
- Be well-lit, private, and near the employee’s work area.
- Provide good natural or artificial light
- Be private – both shielded from view and free from intrusion
- Have accessible, clean running water nearby
- Have an electrical outlet (if the workplace is supplied with electricity)
- Include a chair
- Provide a desk, small table, desk, counter or other flat surface
- Not be a restroom or toilet stall
- If not designated solely for lactation purposes, must be available when the employee needs it. Other employees should be made aware that those who are lactating have priority to access the designated space.
- Employers are required to adopt a policy and distribute it to employees upon hire, once a year, and when returning to the workplace after the birth of a child.
- Employers must allow employees to store breastmilk in refrigerators in the workplace, if there are any.
Important to note is that there does not need to be a separate space for every nursing employee. An employer may dedicate a single room
or other location for breast milk expression, and should there be more than one employee at a time needing access, an employer may dedicate a centralized location to be used by all employees.
For more information on lactation room requirements in New York, see this poster.
2023 Updates to Employer Requirements
On June 7th, 2023, the first of several updates took effect in New York State expanding its lactation accommodations requirements and laws.
This update required that policies include the following to be compliant:
- Employee rights under the lactation accommodations law
- Break time expansion from one break every three hours to “each time an employee needs to express breastmilk”
- How employees can request space at work to take lactation breaks
- Employer’s promise of responding to lactation space requests within five (5) business days
- The designated space for lactation (This is part is optional. However, if it is not in the handbook or policy, employers must inform all employees of the designation of the space as soon as possible)
Employers of all sizes will still be required to allow employees to take lactation breaks for up to three (3) years after childbirth.
There were also updates to requirements around lactation rooms and accommodations, which are reflected above.
Undue Hardship Exception
If providing employees with a compliant room/location for lactating would pose an undue hardship for employers, employers must still provide lactation breaks to employees and must make a reasonable effort to provide a private, non-bathroom space near the employee’s work area to express breastmilk.
Congress passed the PUMP for Nursing Mothers Act (to amend the Break Time for Nursing Mothers Act), effective December 29, 2022, to extend protections to exempt executive, administrative, and professional employees. Additionally, the Federal Government will put into place Pregnant Workers Fairness Act (PWFA) effective June 27, 2023, that will provide pregnant employees and job applicants with ADA-style protections, and adopts the same definitions of “reasonable accommodation” and “undue hardship” as used in the ADA. Please note that New York State supersedes these requirements.
How Many Breaks Are Permitted?
Employees are allowed to request a break to express breast milk up to every three hours. However, "the number of breaks an employee will need to express breast milk is unique to each employee and employers must provide reasonable break times based on the individual" per state law.
How Long Are Breaks?
Paid breaks provided for the expression of breast milk must be at least 30 minutes. An employee must also be allowed to take a longer unpaid break if needed.
Does the Law Apply to Remote Employees?
Remote employees are entitled to the same rights regarding paid break time to express breast milk as other employees, however, none of the lactation room accommodation requirements apply given that the employee works from home.
Advanced Notice
If an employee must give employers reasonable advance notice in order to express breast milk at work.
The notice is intended to give employers the appropriate time to find an appropriate location and adjust schedules if needed. Such notice should be a written request. Employers must respond to this request for a room or other location to express breast milk in writing within five days, then notify all employees in writing through email or printed memo when a room or other location has been designated for breast milk expression.
Get Help Updating Your Handbook Policies
If the updates to New York Lactation Accommodations have thrown your handbooks out of date and out of compliance, a New York HR Service can help.
Contact EBC to see how we are already helping countless of New York businesses ensure compliant handbooks and overall business compliance as companies that fall out of compliance may find themselves facing serious New York labor law penalties and fines.
