As an employer you are required to provide appropriate accommodations to nursing mothers. If you aren’t doing this, you are putting your company at great risks.
The Affordable Care Act amended the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) to require employers to provide nursing mothers a “reasonable break time for an employee to express breast milk for her nursing child for one year after the child’s birth each time such employee has the need to express the milk.”
Many employers may feel that a bathroom is sufficient. However, the law states that employers must provide “a place, other than a bathroom, that is shielded from view and free from intrusion from coworkers and the public, which may be used by an employee to express breast milk.”
Employers with less than 50 employees are not subject to the FLSA break time requirement if complying with the regulation would impose an “undue hardship.” Additionally, employers are not required under the FLSA to compensate nursing mothers for the breaks taken for the above purpose, unless they already provide compensation for other break times.
Employers should familiarize themselves with the federal, as well as their state laws. The federal law does not preempt state law, so if the state law provides nursing mothers greater protection, employers must abide by the state protections.
Click here to view the DOL regulations on accommodating nursing mothers.
Need assistance on figuring out how this law applies to your organization? Contact Alternative HR at 717-855-5589 for help.