Our latest report, “Compliance or Complaints? The Impact of Private Enforceability of Lactation Break Time and Space Laws” investigates whether the PUMP for Nursing Mothers Act, if passed, would lead to a landslide of litigation against employers. The federal PUMP Act would allow employees who have not received reasonable break time and private non-bathroom space for expressing breast milk to file a lawsuit in court enforcing their legal rights. Through an in-depth review of the lawsuits filed against employers in the four U.S. jurisdictions that provide a similar right to enforce lactation break time and space laws, WorkLife Law research showed that the odds of a private company being sued in a given year are essentially zero (.0002%). A business owner is over 25 times more likely to be struck by lightning in their lifetime. When employers have clear standards to meet, and appropriate consequences if they do not, businesses have shown that they are able to provide the break time and space that breastfeeding employees need.
