(WJAR) — Nine-million women will potentially benefit from the recently passed PUMP Act.
"This includes teachers, this includes care providers, this includes workers in agriculture," said Jessica Looman, principal deputy administrator for the Wage and Hour Division at the U.S. Department of Labor.
It will also include nurses, managers, even taxi and truck drivers.
Pump, an acronym for Providing Urgent Maternal Protections for Nursing Mothers, was part of the Omnibus Appropriations Bill that was passed late December of 2022.
"There's urgency to address this, there's urgency to meet this need," said Looman. "Really, the ability to pump breast milk at work is a foundation to a woman's health and infant's health."
This law requires granting the time at work.
"You need both the time and you need the time when you need it," clarified Looman.
And a dedicated space is required.
"And it can't be a bathroom," said Looman. "So, an example, in work trailers, we've seen employers be able to corner off and section off an area where that can happen with the privacy that's necessary."
"We're going to work with employers to help them be creative and help them think about how they can meet these obligations," she added.
This new law also allows working moms who are denied the time and space to take legal action.
"It is a worker protection, and it does allow workers who do need this access and are denied this ability to pump breast milk at work to come to us," said Looman.
For more...
(This story has been updated to include that Mountzoures turned herself into Davie County deputies.) A Jonesville woman was charged in Davie County after state investigators said she defrauded an ...