Employment Law Now: III-47 - New York, New World
Puerto Rico has enacted a groundbreaking Lactation/Breastfeeding Code that consolidates in one statute the rights of breastfeeding employees and the responsibilities of employers across the Island. Signed into law on...more
Puerto Rico Governor Jeniffer González has signed Act No. 29-2025 into law, modifying the Act to Regulate the Breastfeeding or Breast Milk Extraction Period, as amended (“Act 427-2000”), which provides certain nursing...more
On June 23, 2025, Governor Jennifer González signed Act 29-2025, amending Puerto Rico’s Act 427-2000, “Act to Regulate Breastfeeding and Breast Milk Extraction Periods,” and strengthening protections for nursing employees....more
Effective January 1, 2027, SB 5217 expands Washington’s Healthy Starts Act (“Act”) to apply the law to employers of any size, require scheduling flexibility for postpartum appointments, mandate paid lactation accommodation...more
Key Takeaways - - A new law in Washington requires all employers, regardless of their size, to have pregnancy and postpartum accommodations in place for their employees by 2027. - The required accommodations include paid...more
California and federal laws require lactation accommodations for breastfeeding employees. The federal lactation accommodation law called the PUMP Act has many of the same requirements as the state law, however there are some...more
New York City employers are reminded that they are now required to physically and electronically post a copy of their written lactation accommodation policy...more
New York City employers will be required to physically and electronically post a copy of their written lactation room accommodation policy under recent amendments to New York City’s lactation accommodations law set to take...more
The BakerHostetler Labor and Employment Practice Group keeps a close watch on new and upcoming employment and labor laws that can significantly impact our New York-based clients. Below we highlight some of the recently...more
Effective June 19, 2024, New York employers will be required to provide up to 30 minutes of paid lactation breaks to employees each time an employee has a reasonable need to express breast milk at work. This change to New...more
New York will be the first state to require employers to provide paid leave to pregnant employees for prenatal care under one of a series of proposals included in legislation recently signed by Governor Kathy Hochul to...more
The 2023 legislative session saw a substantial number of changes to employment laws in Minnesota. As you and your business enter 2024, the team at Winthrop & Weinstine has prepared a summary of the changes that may impact...more
New legislation in New Hampshire will guarantee the right of nursing mothers to an unpaid break of 30 minutes to pump for every three hours of work beginning July 1, 2025. This new state law comes in the wake of the 2022...more
In recent years, the United States has faced an epidemic of maternal mortality and worsening maternal health disparities and ranks well beyond its industrialized peers on these metrics. In response, many employers have taken...more
Balancing work and motherhood raises age-old questions for women in virtually every industry. Amongst these are how to navigate work during both pregnancy and the transition back to work after the baby is born, which present...more
The U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) issued Field Assistance Bulletin No. 2023-2 on May 17, 2023, to provide guidance to its field staff regarding enforcement of the Providing Urgent Maternal Protections for Nursing Mothers Act...more
New federal legislation is expanding existing employer obligations to provide reasonable accommodations for pregnant employees and reasonable breaks for nursing employees to express breast milk during the workday. The...more
Congress recently enacted two laws expanding workplace legal protections for pregnant and nursing employees: the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act (PWFA) and the Providing Urgent Maternal Protections for Nursing Mothers Act (PUMP...more
On May 24, 2023, Governor Tim Walz signed into law an omnibus jobs and economic development bill that included, among its many workplace-related provisions, the establishment of a statewide paid sick leave program, effective...more
On May 17, the Department of Labor (DOL) issued guidance concerning an employer’s obligation to provide nursing employees with reasonable break times and a private place to pump breast milk at work. In 2010, the Patient...more
The Minnesota Legislature recently concluded its 2023 session with the passage of a comprehensive paid family medical leave bill Mn Chapter 59 and an omnibus labor bill Mn Chapter 53 that will impose significant new...more
In late 2022, President Biden signed legislation creating new protections for pregnant and nursing employees. The Pregnant Workers Fairness Act (PWFA), which goes into effect June 27, 2023, and the Providing Urgent Maternal...more
On May 24, 2023, Governor Tim Walz signed into law legislation that further expands protections for nursing and pregnant employees in Minnesota. The amendment, included in Senate File (SF) 3035, builds on the changes that...more
A recent federal law—the PUMP Act—expands the rights of employees for lactation breaks. Although there were prior protections for some employees under federal law, the PUMP Act amends the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) and...more
The Pregnant Workers Fairness Act (“PWFA”) takes effect on June 27, 2023, and requires private employers with at least 15 employees to provide reasonable accommodations to their employees for pregnancy, childbirth, recovery,...more