Nursing Room Requirements At Work
These accommodations include time for women to express milk and a private space that is not a bathroom each time they need to pump.
Nursing room requirements at work. Additional guidance is provided by the office of personnel management opm and the department of labor dol. About the law the patient protection and affordable care act p l. 111 148 known as the affordable care act amended section 7 of the fair labor standards act flsa to require employers to provide reasonable break time for an employee to express breast milk for her nursing child for one year after the child s birth each time such employee has need to express the milk. Lactation rooms promote the health of the mother and baby through continued nursing.
Requirements these rooms should provide access to electricity for the use of a breast pump as well as good lighting a comfortable temperature and proper ventilation. Tips for designing a lactation room. The need for nursing or lactation rooms came about because new moms needed a private safe and clean place to express breast milk while at work. The federal break time for nursing mothers law requires employers covered by the fair labor standards act flsa to provide basic accommodations for breastfeeding mothers at work.
Federal law protects the right of employees to have a private space to pump and reasonable breaks to accommodate the time necessary to pump. Employer lactation room guidelines etc. A lactation room is a private space where employees who are nursing mothers can pump breast milk. Read the lactation accommodation requirements here.
Comfortable spaces for nih and visiting nursing mothers to staff express milk. The business case for breastfeeding recommends that at a minimum employers provide a safe and private space with a chair and a small table or shelf to set the breast pump on. Federal law requires employers to provide reasonable break time for an employee to express breast milk for her nursing child for one year after the child s birth each time such employee has need to express the milk section 7 of the flsa employers are also required to provide a place other than a bathroom that is shielded from view and free from intrusion from coworkers and the public. A lactation room at work also called a nursing mothers room is unfortunately not required by law in all countries but is now a requirement in the usa.
A lactation room cannot be a bathroom while it affords privacy toilet areas are not sanitary.