New York female employees will be granted 30 minutes of paid break time to breastfeed their infants at work under a new state legislation that goes into effect on Wednesday.
According to the law, breastfeeding breaks may be taken by employees for up to three years following childbirth, if necessary. All employees, whether public and private, are covered by it.
Beneficiaries must notify their employers in writing of their intention to take breastfeeding breaks, ideally as soon as they return from parental leave. Employers are not allowed to demand that employees remain at work after hours because they expressed milk since the breaks are seen as separate from meal and break times.
“As New York’s first mom governor, I’m fighting every day to give working parents the protections they need to keep their families strong and healthy,” New York Governor Kathy Hochul said in a statement.
“By providing paid break time for breast milk expression, we are not only supporting parents and their babies but also reinforcing the importance of family-friendly workplace policies,” State Labor Commissioner Roberta Reardon stated.
Until the more recent past, the right to breastfeed their infants was granted by companies to their employees only on an unpaid basis
Workplaces in New York are already required to provide designated breastfeeding facilities, which should be private rooms with a table and chair. Toilets do not count for fulfilling such criteria.
