As we ring in the new year, WorkLife Law is celebrating a major milestone: the PUMP Act’s lactation protections now cover workers in nearly every industry.
In late 2022, WorkLife Law was instrumental in securing the passage of the federal PUMP for Nursing Mothers Act (PUMP Act). The law provided the right to lactation breaks and space to 9 million previously excluded workers and strengthened rights for all lactating workers by ensuring workers whose rights were violated could seek justice in court . Unfortunately, the PUMP Act delayed coverage or left out several groups of workers.
This fall, WorkLife Law helped secure a new provision closing the gap for Congressional employees. And, on December 29, 2025, the PUMP Act’s protections finally took effect for certain transportation workers who operate locomotives or motorcoaches.
“This represents the final wave of protection from our PUMP Act advocacy,” said WorkLife Law Co-Director Jessica Lee. “We’re so proud that more workers will be able to feed their babies without sacrificing their jobs.”
“We look forward to providing support on our free legal helpline to newly covered transportation workers so they are able to access these important protections,” said WorkLife Law Co-Director Liz Morris.
Today, airline flight crew are now the only workers categorically excluded from PUMP’s coverage–an exclusion we are committed to remedying. However, flight crew and other workers at employers with at least 15 employees still have lactation rights under the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act and various state laws.
To learn more about the new protections for transportation workers, see our guide. For more information about the PUMP Act and Pregnant Workers Fairness Act, visit our site Pregnant@Work.