The Center for WorkLife Law is celebrating the recent enactment of a New York State Law that requires employers to provide pay for lactation breaks. As of June 19, 2024, New York now requires that each lactation break be paid, up to 30 minutes per break. Employees who need more than 30 minutes for a lactation break must be permitted to use other available paid time off to cover the extra time.
New York is now the fourth state in the U.S. to require employers to provide paid lactation breaks, joining Georgia, Illinois, and Minnesota. Federal law requires lactation breaks to be paid in limited circumstances. When breaks are unpaid, many lactating parents are forced to choose whether to go without the wages they need to survive, or without the regular pumping breaks they need to protect their health and milk supply. Providing paid lactation breaks is a key component of health equity for postpartum workers and their babies.
“When we first started encouraging advocates to push for paid lactation breaks, most loved the idea, but thought it wasn’t politically feasible,” said WorkLife Law Co-Director Liz Morris. “We’re beyond thrilled that now four states have made this ambitious vision a reality. No matter how much they earn, all workers should be free to take pumping breaks.”
The Center for WorkLife Law is proud to have advanced the call for paid lactation breaks through our 2019 report, Exposed: Discrimination Against Breastfeeding Workers as well as our 2021 policy brief Making Pumping Breaks Affordable for All. With the addition of a fourth state, we are re-releasing our brief with the latest information on best practices and model policy guidance: to learn more, see Making Lactation Breaks Affordable for All Workers.
For more information about existing law, model policies, or related advocacy efforts, please contact the Center for WorkLife Law at policy@worklifelaw.org.
Related resources:
- Information about existing paid lactation break laws and model policy guidance: Making Lactation Breaks Affordable for All Workers.
- Guide to workers’ rights to paid lactation breaks: Are Pumping Breaks Paid or Unpaid?
- NY State Department of Labor guidance, FAQs, and fact sheets here: https://dol.ny.gov/breast-milk-expression-workplace