Mommyato Blog | Breastfeeding in Public and at Work: Know Your Rights

05 Aug Breastfeeding in Public and at Work: Know Your Rights

Posted at 15:58h in Breastfeeding, Workplace Rights by JessicaB

One of the most impactful places to promote and support breastfeeding, and therefore the health of mother and baby, is the mother’s workplace.

August 1st – August 7th is World Breastfeeding Week with the World Alliance for Breastfeeding Action. It’s well known that breastmilk is the preferred sustenance for babies. The research shows that its antiviral and antibacterial qualities help prevent and reduce the severity of illness and infections in infants, such as diarrhea, ear, respiratory and urinary infections. Breastfed babies also have less healthcare visits, prescriptions and hospitalizations!¹

The benefits are great for mothers too. Many women find they shed pregnancy weight gain more efficiently. There are long term benefits such as reduced risk of breast cancer and osteoporosis.¹

But, the natural right of a woman to breastfeed her infant hasn’t always been respected, or protected. This has affected breastfeeding trends over the last century and even now, in the United States, only 25% of 6 month old infants are exclusively breastfed.¹ The CDC recommends exclusive breastfeeding for 6 months with continued breastfeeding until age 2. There are a lot of societal gains to be made to reach this goal!

One of the most impactful places to promote and support breastfeeding, and therefore the health of mother and baby, is the mother’s workplace.

In the last decade, old labor standard laws have been made better and new laws have been created to promote and protect the health of mother and baby. It’s important to know and understand these rights so you can exercise them.

Here are the highlights:

1) In 2010, the Affordable Care Act Section 4207 amended the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938. The amendment requires employers to provide reasonable break time for employees to express milk for a nursing child up to age one; each time an employee needs this break. Employers must provide a clean space that is sheltered from the public and coworkers, but not the bathroom.

Employers are not required to pay employees for this break time, except if the employee is doing work at the same time. This law also applies to employees working from home or telework.²

Employers who employ less than 50 workers are exempt from these requirements.

2) In 2019, Congress passed the Fairness for Breastfeeding Mothers Act (FSLA). This law requires certain public buildings to provide shielded, hygienic spaces, other than the bathroom, for expressing breastmilk. This space must include a chair, working surface and an electrical outlet. The space is available to the public.

The FSLA also protects against retaliatory behavior by employers such as loss of job and wages or demotion due to an employee exercising the right to take breaks to express milk, or seek a sheltered, clean, private space, other than the bathroom, to do so.²

If you are experiencing workplace challenges with exercising these rights freely and without difficulty, initiate a discussion with your manager. Review your rights, bring in documentation of the laws, and discuss it knowledgeably with your manager. Involve Human Resources (HR) and work this chain of command too. If challenges continue or action is too slow, take the next step to file a complaint with the U.S. Department of Labor. Let your manager and HR know you’ve done so. This may be very motivating to affect change in the workplace quickly. Be knowledgeable, firm, and balanced.

You have a whole year to breastfeed or express milk for your and your baby’s benefit. Don’t be afraid to exercise those workplace rights! They are hard won by generations of women before you who could not.