DOL is enforcing new PUMP Act for breastfeeding workers
The new law, which took effect Jan. 1, amends the FLSA and requires employers with 50 or more employees to provide reasonable break time for all workers, including salaried employees, to express breast milk as needed.
For nursing mothers, the Department of Labor is on a campaign to let them know about extended rights that allow them to pump breastmilk at work.
The newly enacted Providing Urgent Maternal Protections for Nursing Mothers (PUMP) Act, which took effect Jan. 1, 2023, extends the rights of nursing mothers to have time and a private space to pump breastmilk at work. Under the PUMP Act, more workers in more industries – now including teachers, care workers and farmworkers – are protected by the provisions of the Fair Labor Standards Act. The new protections also expand remedies available to these workers if their employers do not comply with the law.
“The Fair Labor Standards and Family and Medical Leave acts include provisions to protect the rights of new and expectant mothers to care for and bond with their children. For more than a decade, many working parents have had legal protections to be able to have break time and proper space at work to express breast milk,” Principal Deputy Wage and Hour Administrator Jessica Looman added. “The PUMP Act strengthens and expands these protections to give more working parents peace of mind when it comes to caring for their child.”
Related: Breastfeeding support in the workplace: How to combat the stigma
The campaign by the department’s Wage and Hour Division – which enforces the PUMP Act and the FLSA – provides information about worker protections for nursing mothers and includes national outreach and a website providing guidance, fact sheets and other resources for workers and employers.
The PUMP Act amends the FLSA and requires employers with 50 or more employees to provide reasonable break time for all employees, including salaried employees, to express breast milk as needed. The new law includes the following provisions:
- Extends rights and protections to have break time and space to pump breast milk at work to include millions of working women not previously covered by the FLSA.
- Allows working women to take legal action and seek monetary remedies if their employer fails to comply with federal law.
- Clarifies when an employer must pay the worker for time spent pumping breast milk if they are not completely relieved of work duties.