As lawyers, small businesses and employees struggle to understand the implications of the new health care regulations, there are certain laws they should certainly be aware of. One of the immediately effective portions of the Health Care Reform Act was a requirement under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) that an employer provide breaks and a location for breast feeding of an infant up to one year of age. Section 4207 of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act of 2010 (PPACA) amends Section 7 of the FLSA to require employers to provide:
- “reasonable” breaks for employees to express breast milk;
- in a location free from intrusion in which to take those breaks (restrooms are specifically excluded as acceptable locations).
Employers with less than 50 employees who can demonstrate that they would experience “undue hardship” in the course of providing nursing mother breaks are exempt. Breaks taken during work hours do not have to be compensated, but employers are not free to dictate when or how long the breaks must be. CAVEAT: this federal requirement does not preempt any state or local requirement that may provide a more significant requirement.
If you are unclear as how the law may affect your workplace, please contact us and one of our Human Resources Consulting experts will be available to assist you.
Source: National Association of PEOs (NAPEO)