California and federal laws require lactation accommodations for breastfeeding employees. The law on the lactation of the federal government, the pump act called Pumps Act, has many of the same requirements as the state law. However, there are some details of state law that California employers should take into account.
Here are the most important points that employers need to know.
The California Lactation accommodation laws are among the most comprehensive in the United States. According to the sections of the Californian Labor Act 1030-1034, employers must provide:
- Appropriate interruption time: Employers must give employees an appropriate interruption of the time in order to express breast milk. Ideally, this interruption time should match any existing interruption time that is made available to the employee. If this is not the case, the interruption time for the expression milk does not have to be paid.
- Private space: Employers must offer a space or a location other than a bathroom in the immediate vicinity of the employee's work area, which is privately and free of ingress, while the employee expresses milk. The location must be safe, clean and free of dangerous materials and have the following:
- A surface for a breast pump and personal objects;
- A place to sit; And
- Access to electricity or alternative devices such as extension cables.
- In addition, the employee must have access to a sink with running water and a refrigerator or another cooling device that is suitable for storing milk in the immediate vicinity of the employee's work area.