New York State Publishes Model Lactation Policy

Seyfarth Synopsis: Effective June 7, 2023, New York State employers are required to comply with expanded obligations under recent amendments to New York Labor Law § 206-c, to include the provision of a designated pumping location and the adoption of a lactation policy. The New York Department of Labor issued model materials for employers to consider and adopt to ensure compliance with these newly-effective requirements.

As previously reported here, Governor Hochul signed legislation on December 9, 2022, which amended Section 206-c of New York’s Labor Law to require employers to designate a room or location to allow employees to pump breast milk and to eventually adopt a policy to be published by the Department of Labor (“DOL”). The law went into effect on June 7, 2023.

Shortly before the effective date, the DOL published a model policy which outlines the rights of nursing mothers to express breast milk at work and the obligations placed on employers to accommodate the need for their employees to express breast milk via unpaid time off and a designated pumping room. The DOL also published employee-focused and employer-focused guidance to assist all parties with compliance under the law. 

The model policy complies with the statutory requirements in that it (1) informs employees of their rights under New York Labor Law § 206-c, (2) specifies the means by which a request may be submitted to the employer for a room or other location for use by employees to express breast milk; and (3) requires the employer to respond to the request within a reasonable timeframe, but not to exceed five business days [1]. Employers must either adopt the model policy or prepare one that meets or exceeds the requirements stated therein.

New York State’s expanded requirements track with the increased focus on lactation accommodations nationwide. The New York State requirements echo much of the lactation accommodation requirements already in effect under New York City law. And, as discussed here, the federal PUMP for Nursing Mothers Act extends federal protections to nursing employees under the Fair Labor Standards Act effective June 27, 2023.

New York employers should ensure that they adopt the DOL’s model mandatory policy and confirm that employees are provided with a copy of the policy consistent with the now-effective amendments. Employers should moreover assess their lactation rooms and accommodations to make certain they are within compliance of the law.

Please reach out to your Seyfarth attorney with any questions.

[1] Note: the statute requires a response within five business days, but the model policy ambiguously says within “five days.”