The PUMP for Nursing Mothers Act (PUMP Act) was signed into law on December 29, 2022. The law 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.
The most recent development with the PUMP Act is that the expanded enforcement provision, which gives a right to file a lawsuit for monetary remedies, went into effect on April 28, 2023.
This means that workers who believe their employer has violated the PUMP Act can now file a lawsuit in federal court to seek compensation.
The PUMP Act also provides for a number of other protections for nursing parents, such as:
- The right to take reasonable break time to express breast milk for one year after the child's birth.
- The right to use a private, non-bathroom space to pump breast milk.
- The right to have the time spent pumping counted towards minimum wage and overtime pay if the worker is at least partially working during a pumping break.
- Protection from retaliation for exercising their rights under the law.
The PUMP Act is a significant step forward in protecting the rights of nursing parents in the workplace. The expanded enforcement provision will help to ensure that employers are held accountable for violating the law, and the other protections will help to make it easier for nursing mothers to continue working while breastfeeding their children.
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