Short Answer: Unpaid break time and a private space (not a bathroom) for up to one year after childbirth.
Full Answer: Under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA), employers must provide unpaid break time for nursing mothers to express breast milk for one year after the child’s birth. The break time must be as needed by the employee.
Additionally, employers must offer a private space, shielded from view and free from intrusion, which cannot be a bathroom. If the employer already offers paid breaks, nursing mothers using this time must be compensated like other employees.
Small businesses with fewer than 50 employees may be exempt if compliance causes undue hardship, but they must prove this hardship. The requirement to completely relieve duty applies; otherwise, the time must be paid.
General Federal Standard: Required under Section 7(r) of the FLSA as amended by the Affordable Care Act.
Link to a legislative resource from trusted sources: U.S. Department of Labor - Break Time for Nursing Mothers
Full Answer: Under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA), employers must provide unpaid break time for nursing mothers to express breast milk for one year after the child’s birth. The break time must be as needed by the employee.
Additionally, employers must offer a private space, shielded from view and free from intrusion, which cannot be a bathroom. If the employer already offers paid breaks, nursing mothers using this time must be compensated like other employees.
Small businesses with fewer than 50 employees may be exempt if compliance causes undue hardship, but they must prove this hardship. The requirement to completely relieve duty applies; otherwise, the time must be paid.
General Federal Standard: Required under Section 7(r) of the FLSA as amended by the Affordable Care Act.
Link to a legislative resource from trusted sources: U.S. Department of Labor - Break Time for Nursing Mothers