This article was originally published in Law360 on February 23, 2023 and is republished here with permission.
On Feb. 8, the U.S. Department of Labor announced that a Michigan auto plant will begin providing employees with more private space to nurse, determining that the car manufacturer made nursing mothers wait up to 20 minutes for lactation rooms.
The agency's investigation and announcement underscore the importance of an employer's duty to ensure that workers' rights are protected when lactation accommodations are needed, including under the newly enacted Providing Urgent Maternal Protections for Nursing Mothers, or PUMP, Act.
The PUMP Act expands employers' existing obligations to provide breaks and space for certain employees to express breast milk.
Effective Dec. 29, 2022, under the act, employers must provide:
(1) "A reasonable break time for an employee to express breast milk each time such employee has need to express breast milk for the 2-year period beginning on the date on which the circumstances related to such need arise; and
(2) 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."
These breaks can be unpaid, unless the employee is not completely relieved from work for the entire break or unless otherwise required by applicable federal, state or local law.
The PUMP Act applies to employees with a need to express...
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