Updates To The PUMP Act for Nursing Mothers

What is the PUMP Act?

The PUMP for Nursing Mothers Act (“PUMP Act”) is a new law that makes several important changes to the Break Time for Nursing Mothers law, which has required since 2010 that employers nationwide provide reasonable break time and a private, non-bathroom space for lactating employees to pump milk during the workday. The 2022 PUMP Act was passed to close some of the loopholes in the original 2010 law. 

What has changed?

• Almost entirely closes the coverage gap that left 1 in 4 women of childbearing age without federal protection of their right to break time and a private space to pump during the workday. It expands the legal right to receive pumping breaks and private space to nearly 9 million more workers, including teachers, registered nurses, farmworkers, and many others.

• Makes it possible for an employee to file a lawsuit against an employer that violates the law. Before the PUMP Act became law, employees who were harmed when their employer did not provide break time and space were not able to seek a monetary remedy in court.

• Clarifies that pumping time counts as time worked when calculating minimum wage and overtime if an employee is not completely relieved from their work duties during the pumping break. 

Learn more about the PUMP Act here as well as Breastfeeding Resources for Livingston County.