by the Brightmine Editorial Team
Various federal, state and local laws require an employer to provide accommodations for employees who are lactating/breastfeeding, typically in the form of breaks and a private location or space for expressing breast milk.
The following chart provides an overview of federal, state and local requirements with regard to lactation/breastfeeding break time and facility accommodations, including any available employer defenses and applicable notice, posting and policy requirements. These requirements may be found within an antidiscrimination or fair employment practices law or in a discrete, standalone law.
Some states have both an antidiscrimination law and a discrete law requiring lactation/breastfeeding accommodations, while in other states, lactation/breastfeeding support by employers is only encouraged, but not required. Any such supplemental laws are covered in the Additional/Related Protections column.
States that have no requirements regarding lactation/breastfeeding breaks and accommodations are marked N/A in the chart. In the absence of state or local requirements, federal rules may apply.
An employer may also be subject to federal, state or local equal employment opportunity laws that prohibit discrimination, harassment and retaliation based on lactation/breastfeeding. Such laws may require an employer to provide reasonable accommodations based on pregnancy, childbirth or related medical conditions, beyond the accommodations required for lactation/breastfeeding as referenced above.
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About the author
The Brightmine Editorial Team
Our in-house team of HR experts carefully monitors and updates the Brightmine HR & Compliance Center, the most comprehensive library of employment law and HR resources. This team has an unrivaled wealth of subject matter expertise, with an average of 15 years’ experience. They also bring invaluable, diverse career experiences to the table—the team includes seasoned employment law attorneys, former in-house counsel, SHRM certified professionals and career employment law editors.
In addition to managing the HR & Compliance Center, the Editorial Team supports the content across the Brightmine product portfolio. The Team also supports Marketing Resource Center with breaking HR news, Commentary and Insights, and expert review of key compliance resources, such as our free charts.