On December 29, 2022, President Biden signed into law new legislation expanding the protections of nursing mothers, known as the Providing Urgent Maternal Protections Act for Nursing Mothers Act (“PUMP Act”). The PUMP Act is intended to enhance existing lactation and pumping protections and close some gaps for workers who were previously left uncovered in 2010 when the Breaktime for Nursing Mothers Law was passed.
While the previous law made it a requirement for all employers to 1) provide all nursing employees with a break time to express breast milk; and 2) provide nursing employees with a non-bathroom, private place to pump at work that is shielded from view and free of intrusions, not all employees were covered. The PUMP Act now includes certain categories of workers who were excluded previously, including farmworkers. In addition, employees who telework or work remotely are entitled to the same amount and length of breaks to express milk.
The PUMP Act’s protections have been incorporated into the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA), which is enforced by the U.S. Department of Labor. The Act applies to all employers with at least 15 employees. Among the new protections provided under the PUMP Act are:
- Extends lactation/pumping protections to workers who were previously left uncovered;
- Provides a private right of action to sue any employer who violates the Act or fails to provide the reasonable break time and conditions for pumping;[1] and
- For any employee earning minimum wage and/or overtime pay, their pumping time is counted as work time to the extent that they are not fully relieved of their duties while pumping.
Under the previous law, all companies were required to provide a reasonable break time and private space. Smaller employers with under 50 employees are also subject to the PUMP Act requirements, unless compliance would present an undue hardship. In order to argue an undue hardship, a smaller employer would have to prove so based on size, financial resources or the nature of the business doesn’t allow for a private space and/or break time. Some not-for-profit organizations are also required to comply with the PUMP Act if they are either entities covered by FLSA or the employees as individuals would be covered by FLSA.[2]
The PUMP Act specifies that if the designated pumping space by the employer is not considered acceptable (again, the space cannot be a bathroom), then the employee has a right and responsibility to first notify the employer in order to correct it. If another suitable space is not provided by the employer within at least ten (10) days, then the employee may file a lawsuit over failure to comply with the law. A covered employee does not need to exhaust administrative remedies first here, meaning a complaint does not need to first be filed with the Department of Labor prior to filing a lawsuit.
For more information on how your company can comply with the PUMP Act and other business compliance matters, contact Rincker Law, PLLC at assistant@rinckerlaw.com.
[1] The PUMP Act went into effect the day it was signed, and the provision granting a private right of action went into effect 120 days later on April 28, 2023.
[2] See Department of Labor, Wage and Hour Division, Fact Sheet #14A: Non-Profit Organizations and the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) (Aug. 2015), available at https://www.dol.gov/agencies/whd/fact-sheets/14a-flsa-non-profits.