As stated in our prior newsletter article, New York State Labor Law has expanded the legal protections available to nursing employees. Under the Nursing Mothers in the Workplace Act (Labor Law 206-C), employers have been allowed to provide nursing mothers a reasonable unpaid break time to express breast milk, or the nursing mother may use paid breaks or lunch breaks to express milk for up to three years after the birth of their child. Effective June 19, 2024, Labor Law 206-C was amended to require that employers to provide employees with paid lactation breaks.
Employers will now be required to provide lactating employees with a 30-minute paid break time to express milk, as well as allow them to use existing paid breaks when nursing takes longer than 30 minutes. An employer will be expected to allow an employee to express breast milk each time the employee has a reasonable need to do so, for up to three years following the birth of their child. This may potentially entitle employees to multiple paid lactation breaks a day, since the number of breaks is not explicitly capped.
Employers are still expected to provide a lactation room with the same necessities outlined in our February 2023 article. In response to this new law regarding paid breaks, employers are urged to update and distribute their lactation policies to conform to the updated Labor Law 206-C.