When it comes to breastfeeding protections, California strives to ensure all women can continue breastfeeding after returning to work and well beyond it. The U.S. Fair Labor Standards Act also offers protections. 

Shegerian Conniff wants you to know that if you are pregnant, thinking about having, fostering, or adopting a child, or have recently had an infant, your rights are protected. U.S. and California laws aim to normalize breastfeeding, stop discrimination, and make sure that any woman needing reasonable accommodations is provided with such.

What the Fair Labor Standards Act Says

Before we dive into California’s laws, take a closer look at the FLSA. Specifically, the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2023. Most workers are allowed to take breaks to pump milk for their infant (up to one year), and a private space is to be provided for such. That private space cannot be a bathroom.

A few exemptions exist:

• The employer has fewer than 50 employees and would experience undue hardship
• Certain airline employees (crewmembers)
• Certain bus/motorcoach employees (workers who would have to stop driving and therefore delay passengers)
• Certain railroad employees (workers involved in keeping the train moving or managing right of way, for which temporary replacements would cost the railroad agency extra money or create unsafe traveling conditions)

The PUMP for Nursing Mothers Act added protections for workers in the following fields:

• Agriculture
• Home care
• Nursing
• Teaching
• Transportation (taxis and trucks)

Until that point, the FLSA protected working women in other industries but not those. In addition to the federal law, California goes much farther in protecting a woman’s right to pump breast milk at work.

California’s Specific Laws Protecting Breastfeeding Employees

The following California laws add additional protections.

Labor Code 1030 – 1034:

In California, Labor Code 1030-1034 adds to the federal laws by extending lactation accommodations to all employees, including the above exemptions, contractors, and subcontractors who are within the building. It also eliminates the 12-month age maximum that the federal law has in place. Women can pump milk as long as the child is breastfeeding.

Breaks for expressing milk are intended to run concurrently with breaks that are already provided. If a break is outside of the normal break time, those extra breaks are allowed to be unpaid.

You do have to be given adequate time. If it takes a few minutes to set up your equipment, a couple of minutes to relax, and then 20 minutes to pump milk, your manager cannot barge in after 15 minutes and demand you get back to work.

The space you’re offered for pumping milk must be close to your workspace and not a bathroom, private and not visible to others, and free from interruption while you’re using that space. You also must be provided with a table or counter where you can place your bag and breast pump, a chair, access to an outlet, a refrigerator, and a sink with running water. 

If your workplace cannot provide you with a refrigerator, they must have a suitable alternative like a cooler equipped with ice packs. If the building you work in has multiple different businesses, such as a mall, there can be one conveniently-located designated lactation room for the different businesses. If the room is multipurpose, such as a conference room, lactation takes priority.

In the agricultural sector, the cab of an air-conditioned truck would be considered an acceptable location for expressing milk. If a company has fewer than 50 employees and can prove that allowing a worker to pump milk would create undue hardship, they have to make a reasonable effort to meet the law, but they’re exempt if they cannot find a suitable temporary location that’s not a toilet stall.

Law Requires a Written Policy

Starting in 2020, California’s employers had to develop and implement written breastfeeding accommodation policies. The policy must include:

• The employee’s right to request breastfeeding accommodations
• The steps the employee must take when making the request
• The employer’s obligations once a request is made
• The right of the employee to file a complaint with the Labor Commissioner if the mother’s rights are violated

The written policy must be accessible by adding it to employee handbooks, HR handouts, employee bulletin boards, and made available to workers who announce a pregnancy or recently had a child.

Protections Against Discrimination and Retaliation

Another layer of protection comes from California’s law on sex discrimination in the workplace. It covers pregnancy, childbirth, and breastfeeding. If an employer tries to penalize you in any way for requesting breastfeeding accommodations, it’s illegal. You cannot be harassed by co-workers, contractors, or management for expressing milk at work. 

If you are discriminated against, harassed, or retaliated against for speaking up and reporting someone, it’s illegal. If your employer is violating those rights, civil penalties of up to $100 per day, per employee are possible.

Protections Extend Beyond the Workplace

Your job may find you traveling for work outside of California. When you’re traveling, there are additional laws to protect breastfeeding moms. 

First, all airports must have a private lactation room for moms. This area must be behind security screenings. Second, major transit stations, such as a train station, must also have a lactation room if it was renovated or built after January 2021. 

If your employer decides to send you to a community college or university to increase your training or job skills, campuses need to provide reasonable accommodations for pumping milk. This includes access to a private room that is not a bathroom and has outlets and refrigeration for expressed milk. 

Should your work bring you into a prison or state office building, again, a private lactation room is required. Breastfeeding in public spaces is also your right. 

Don’t Let Your Employer Ignore Your Rights

California’s legal framework protects a woman’s right to pump milk at work to ensure her child enjoys the benefits of breastmilk while at daycare or with a nanny, stay-at-home parent, or other relative. It’s a commitment to working moms, and one that Shegerian Conniff believes is important in this busy world.

We help you determine the next steps to take. If we believe you have a valid complaint, we don’t charge you. Our fee comes from the settlement offer or the reward you win in court.

If your employer refuses to give you a quiet, private space for pumping your milk and tells you to use a bathroom, will not provide you with space in a refrigerator, or demotes or fires you for requesting your rights, talk to us. We’ll help you get treated fairly and lawfully. We’re on your side and offer free consultations to discuss your workplace discrimination case.