The Providing Urgent Maternal Protections for Nursing Mothers Act (PUMP Act) is now in effect, requiring nearly all employers to provide break time and a private, non-bathroom space for lactating employees to pump and store breast milk during the workday.

The law expands workplace protections for mothers who express breast milk, including those provided to hourly workers in 2010 by the Break Time for Nursing Mothers law.

The PUMP Act:

• Expands these rights to salaried employees, including teachers and nurses.
• Clarifies that pumping time must be paid as working time when calculating minimum wage and overtime for hourly workers if an employee is not completely relieved from duty.
• Requires a reasonable break time for an employee to express breast milk each time such employee has need to express breast milk for two years.
• Makes it possible for workers to file a lawsuit to seek monetary remedies in the event that their employer fails to comply.

Most employers with 50 or more employees are required to provide a place for employees to express breast milk, other than a bathroom, that is shielded from view and free from intrusion from coworkers and the public. Employers with fewer than 50 employees might be exempt from the requirement to provide a private space if such requirements would impose an 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.

The legislation went into effect immediately when it was signed on December 29, 2022, although monetary remedies are not available until April 28, 2023.

While the monetary remedies provision is not yet effective, employees can file suit now for violations of the break time requirement, when an employer has indicated that it has no intention of providing private space for pumping, or if an employee has been fired or disciplined for requesting break time or space.

Before filing suit claiming a violation of the lactation space requirement, an employee must notify their employer that an adequate space has not been provided. Employees must do this 10 or more days before filing a lawsuit in court.

Employers should:

• Review and update policies and revise their employee handbook, as warranted.
• Train supervisors on the expanded requirements.
• Be mindful that many states and localities provide additional, more expansive protections and remedies. For example, the State of New York recently expanded accommodations for nursing mothers in the workplace. These more expansive laws are not preempted. Here is a summary of state statutes.

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