Maternity and Work
AFFORDABLE CARE ACT - NURSING BREAKS
The Affordable Care Act requires employers to provide reasonable breaks to an employee to express breast milk for her nursing child for one year after the child was born. Employers are also required to provide a place, other than a bathroom, that is shielded from view and free from intrusion from co-workers and public, which may be used by an employee to express breast milk.
FAMILY AND MEDICAL ACT - LEAVE AND JOB PROTECTION
U.S. workers have the right to take12 weeks of under the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA), but that isn't paid. And the FMLA only applies to employees who have worked at least 12 months at a company with at least 50 employees. A study released after the FMLA went into effect estimated that just one-fifth of new mothers qualified.
PREGNANCY DISCRIMINATION ACT
Discrimination based on pregnancy, childbirth or related medical conditions is unlawful sex discrimination according to the Pregnancy Discrimination Act. The ruling covers workers of employers with 15 or more employees, including federal, state and local governments. As well to labor organizations and employment agencies.
GETTING A JOB WHEN PREGNANT
An employer cannot refuse to hire a pregnant women because she is pregnant, or her pregnant related condition, or because of prejudice of co-workers, clients/costumers.
PREGNANCY AND MATERNITY LEAVE
An employer may require a doctor's statement concerning the inability to work before granting a pregnant worker leave or (paid) sick leave.
If a pregnant worker is temporarily unable to perform her job because of her pregnancy, her employer must treat her the same as other temporarily disabled workers.
Pregnant workers must be permitted to work as long as they are able to perform their job.
Pregnant workers have the right to return to the same job after a pregnant related absence, the same as co-workers on sick or disability leave.
HEALTH INSURANCE
Any health insurance provided by an employer must cover expenses for pregnancy related conditions the same as the coverage for other medical conditions. Not included are costs for abortion, except when the mother's life is in danger.
Pregnancy related expenses should be reimbursed in the same way as expenses for other medical conditions.
Employers must provide the same level of health insurance for spouses of male employees as they do for spouses of female employees.
Nursing Moms at Work
Under the Affordable Care Act, employers are required to provide new moms with reasonable breaks and a private place -- not the bathroom -- to pump breast milk for her nursing child, during working hours for 1 year after the child's birth.
Who is eligible?
Employers who are covered by the FLSA must comply with the nursing breaks, unless they have fewer than 50 employees and can show that making accommodations would create an undue hardship.
Are state laws overruled by the federal law?
The federal law does not overrule state laws that provide greater protection to employees (for example: compensated nursing breaks, nursing breaks for exempt employees, nursing breaks beyond 1 year after the child's birth).
What must an employer provide to nursing moms?
Employers should provide a reasonable amount of break time and a private place that is shielded from view and free from intrusion by coworkers or the public.
How long will a nursing break take?
The frequency and duration of the breaks can vary. Employers should remember that it generally takes 15 to 20 minutes to pump. Moms also need time to get to and from the space and to set up. The breaks should be ideally scheduled during downtime. For example: restaurant workers could plan to pump in between peak meal times.
Is break time paid time?
Employers are not required under the FLSA to pay nursing mothers for nursing breaks. However where employers already provide compensated breaks, nursing mothers can use that break time to pump and they must be compensated the same way that other employees are compensated during break time.
Do employers need to create a permanent, dedicated space for nursing mothers?
No, a temporarily space can be created, provided that the space is shielded from view, and free from intrusion from co-workers and public. This space cannot be the bathroom.
