What Rights Does an Employee Have to Pump Breast Milk in Their Florida Workplace?
If you recently gave birth and need to express breast milk, what are your rights at work? Until relatively recently, there were no substantial laws protecting nursing employees in the workplace. Now, however, with the passage of the Providing Urgent Maternal Protections (PUMP) for Nursing Mothers Act of 2022, all employees have specific rights concerning the ability to take break time to pump breast milk and the right to a location to do so. What are the specific protections and rights you have as a nursing employee? Our Palm Beach Gardens employment discrimination lawyers can explain in more detail.
Rights and Protections Under the PUMP Act
What specific rights do you have as an employee under the PUMP Act? The PUMP Act requires employers to provide:
- Reasonable break time for an employee to pump milk at any point during the workday (as much time as you need, and on a schedule that meets your needs — the employer cannot set a fixed schedule for pumping breast milk); and
- Private space that is not a bathroom, and that is free from intrusions from other co-workers, for you to pump breast milk.
Your employer cannot require you to make up any time at work that you spent pumping breast milk. While hourly wage employees may be taken “off the clock” during pumping breaks if they have no work duties, salaried employees must be paid for pumping time and cannot have their salary reduced because of the break time they took to pump breast milk.
As a nursing employee, you have these rights under the PUMP Act for at least one year after you give birth, and you may be able to maintain these rights for a longer period of time depending on the circumstances.
Am I Protected by the PUMP Act?
If you have done any research into federal employment discrimination laws, you may know that they often only apply to employers of a particular size. It is important to know that, while many other federal laws designed to protect employees only apply to workers who are employed by companies with at least 15 employees (and sometimes more), the PUMP Act is much broader.
There is no minimum size requirement for the PUMP Act to apply, though there are some limited exclusions for certain types of workers. Generally speaking, the only employees to whom the PUMP Act does not provide all of the protections discussed above are airline crewmembers, including pilots and flight attendants. In 2025, employees of railroad and motorcoach carriers became protected but there are special rules to consider. Otherwise, you may have a claim under the PUMP Act.
Contact Our Palm Beach Gardens Pregnancy Discrimination Lawyers for Assistance Today with Workplace Issues Involving Nursing and Breastmilk Expression
Employees in Florida and throughout the country have rights under federal law concerning pumping breast milk in the workplace. As we discussed above, not only do nursing employees have the right to reasonable break time in order to pump breast milk, but they also have a right to a private location where they can do so without intrusion. If you believe your rights were violated, or if you need help with a workplace rights issue concerning nursing workers, one of the experienced Palm Beach Gardens pregnancy discrimination attorneys at Sconzo Law Office can help. Contact our firm today to learn more about the employment discrimination services we provide for workers experiencing discrimination related to pregnancy, gender, and more.
Source:
dol.gov/agencies/whd/pump-at-work