EDMOND —
Q: I am a new mother, and I am breastfeeding my child. Is my employer required to provide me with a place and opportunity to express my milk when I am at work?
A: The quick answer to your question is, probably, but it depends on the size and resources of your employer.
Under the recently passed Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, employers with more than 50 employees are required to provide new breastfeeding mothers with certain accommodations (29 U.S.C. § 207(r)(1)-(4) ). If your employer has fewer than 50 employees, the employer may not be required to provide the accommodation if it would pose an “undue hardship” on the employer. An “undue hardship” is anything that causes the employer significant difficulty or expense in comparison to the size, financial resources and nature of the business.
Covered employers are required to allow breastfeeding mothers a “reasonable” time to take breaks to express breast milk. This accommodation is only provided to nursing mothers of infants who are 12 months or less. The breaks are uncompensated, unless the employer provides otherwise.
In addition, the employer is required to provide a private space for the employee to express her milk. The private space cannot be a bathroom. The space must be shielded from view and free from intrusion from coworkers and the public.
The federal law, however, does not prevent states from providing additional rights to new mothers. In Oklahoma, state law provides that an employer “may” provide a break time for an employee who needs to either breast feed or express breast milk. Under the new federal law, employers, including Oklahoma employers, are required to provide a break time to express breast milk.
The federal law does not give an employee the right to breast feed at work. The law is limited to the expression of milk. However, under Oklahoma law, an employer may allow employees to breast feed. It is simply within the employer’s discretion.
The Department of Labor has not issued formal regulations on this provision and is expected to do so in the next year. However, it is clear from the language of the statute that many new working mothers are entitled to unpaid breaks to express breast milk.
COURTNEY DAVIS POWELL is an attorney for Lester, Loving & Davies P.C. More information is available at lldlaw.com. Send your questions to questions@lldlaw.com.
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