These enforcement provisions will kick in on April 28, 2023, which makes it an imperative for companies and organizations of all kinds to make arrangements for compliance with the new law as soon as possible.

According to the law firm Foley & Lardner LLP, “If an employer violates the PUMP Act, an employee may file a complaint with the Labor Department’s Wage and Hour Division or bring a suit against the employer for damages.” The PUMP Act also establishes a legal process through which workers may hold their employers accountable for failing to provide the necessary lactation facilities. However, this law contained significant loopholes, and the PUMP Act expands the right to break time and lactation space accommodation to nearly 9 million more workers-including teachers, registered nurses, and others. The federal government first attempted to solve this problem in 2010 with the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA), which established expectations that employers would provide break time and appropriate private space for nursing employees to express breast milk. Without proper accommodation, many nursing employees may feel they have to choose between their jobs and meeting their infant and family needs. Previously, workplaces were set up in ways that often made meeting these parental responsibilities difficult.

The American Academy of Pediatrics and the World Health Organization recommend that mothers provide infants with breastmilk up until the age of two, if the health of the mother and baby allow for it. Fortunately, implementing private, sanitary, and comfortable lactation spaces (i.e., mothers’ rooms) that meet nursing employees’ full range of needs as outlined by the legislation can be easy and inexpensive.

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