EMPLOYEES ARE ENTITLED TO EXPRESS BREAST MILK AT WORK

Laboratory Corporation of America Holdings, more commonly known as Labcorp, must implement changes across more than 2,000 locations to comply with the Fair Labor Standards Act’s (FLSA) lactation requirements.  These changes were prompted by the Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division’s investigation and findings that Labcorp did not secure space for employees to express breast milk in at least one of Labcorp’s California locations.  Similarly, in 2020, Bank of American had to modify its facilities nationwide to comply with Section 7 of the FLSA.

In 2010, the Affordable Care Act amended Section 7 of the FLSA to require employers to provide reasonable break time for an employee to express breast milk for her nursing child for one year after childbirth.  Employers are required to provide space that is shielded from view and free from intrusion which can be used by an employee to express breast milk (29. U.S.C. 207(r)).  The designated space cannot be a bathroom. This law only covers employees who work for employers covered by the FLSA and are not exempt from the FLSA’s overtime pay requirements.  However, an employer with less than 50 employees is not required to provide lactation breaks or a room if it would impose an undue hardship by causing a significant difficulty or expense when considered in relation to the nature of the employer’s business.

Some cities and states have implemented more narrow lactation laws.  For example, in 2018, New York City passed Local Law 185 and 186 which requires employers to provide employees with lactation accommodations.  Accommodations include space and reasonable time for employees to pump/express breast milk.   Under Local Law 185, a lactation room is defined as “a sanitary place, other than a restroom, that can be used to express breast milk shielded from view and free from intrusion and that includes at minimum an electrical outlet, a chair, a surface on which to place a breast pump and other personal items, and nearby access to running water.” (Local Law No. 185).  Employees are entitled to a clean and safe space to express milk when returning to work following childbirth.