FLSA amended to accommodate mothers that breast feed.

JoeC (McGruff) Wed Mar 31, 2010 12:45 pm

I haven't posted anything about the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act because it focuses mostly on regulating the insurance industry and less on employment law. There's an important protection in it, though, for women who breastfeed their children. Section 4207 amends the Fair Labor Standards Act to require employers to give women reasonable breaks and a location that is not a bathroom to express breast milk. Here's the text.

SEC. 4207. REASONABLE BREAK TIME FOR NURSING MOTHERS.
Section 7 of the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 (29 U.S.C. 207) is amended by adding at the end the following:

(r)(1) An employer shall provide--
(A) a reasonable break time for an employee to express breast milk for her nursing child for 1 year after the child's birth each time such employee has need to express the milk; and
(B) 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.

(2) An employer shall not be required to compensate an employee receiving reasonable break time under paragraph (1) for any work time spent for such purpose.

(3) An employer that employs less than 50 employees shall not be subject to the requirements of this subsection, if such requirements would impose an undue hardship by causing the employer significant difficulty or expense when considered in relation to the size, financial resources, nature, or structure of the employer's business.

(4) Nothing in this subsection shall preempt a State law that provides greater protections to employees than the protections provided for under this subsection.'.

JoeC (McGruff)