The BCW offers resources for both:
- breastfeeding employees returning to work and
- employers with women of reproductive age on their staff.
Federal Worksite Lactation Accommodation Law
In 2010, the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA, 29 U.S.C 207(r)) was amended with Section 4207 of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act to state that employers shall provide breastfeeding employees with “reasonable break time” and a private, non-bathroom place free from intrusion to express breast milk during the workday, up until the child’s first birthday. Read the Department of Labor's Fact Sheet and current interpretation of the law for more information.
Providing worksite lactation support is good for business and for employees and their families. All major medical authorities, including the Surgeon General and the American Academy of Pediatrics, recommend that babies get no food or drink other than human milk for the first 6 months of life and continue to breastfeed for at least the first 1-2 years. This can be difficult to achieve when returning to work and more than half of all mothers with infants go back to work just weeks or months after their babies are born. Only 12% of mothers currently meet this recommendation and cite returning to work as one of the most common reasons for giving up breastfeeding.
Having a worksite lactation support policy in place is a great way to ensure both the health and productivity of your workforce.
• Providing breastfeeding support results in higher productivity, increased employee satisfaction, strong company loyalty and lower employee turn-over.
• Parents of formula-fed infants miss three times as much work as compared to parents of breastfed babies.
• Companies with lactation programs experience a positive return on investment.
• Supporting breastfeeding employees improves your business’ reputation in your community.
FLSA-compliance can be as simple as providing:
• Flexible break time for employees to express milk or nurse their babies
• A private, non-bathroom place with a door that locks
• A written policy outlining your support
• Information on how to combine employment with breastfeeding
Help and resources for starting or enhancing your worksite lactation program
The Breastfeeding Coalition of Washington (BCW) can help you get started. Contact us at breastfeedingcoalition@withinreachwa.org or 206.281.8032.
One page overview of worksite lactation support and available resources
Learn how to gain recognition as a Breastfeeding Friendly Employer
Request support for technical assistance in implementing worksite lactation accommodation here
No matter what the job, there is a way to find suitable space to express milk
| Worksite or Job |
Suggested Pumping Locations |
| Retail sales, mall store, fast food business |
Small storage closets or utility closets with a light, manager’s offices, storage areas, shared space used by various tenant businesses in a mall, changing rooms |
| Airport |
Airline lounge, little used offices and storage areas, sectioned off corner of a room with either permanent walls or portable partitions |
| Restaurant |
Manager’s office, some mothers work a split shift to avoid having to pump and return home to breastfeed the baby directly during slow work times |
| Transportation workers |
May find pumping areas in stations along their route or in municipal buildings along their route |
| Law enforcement officers |
Municipal buildings may provide spaces for pumping |
| Emergency medical technicians |
May find pumping accommodations in local hospitals or the back of an unused ambulance |
| Military |
Partitioned off sections of locker rooms, pilots and flight crew may pump in on-board crew quarters |
| Hospital workers, physicians, nurses, administrators |
Dedicated lactation room, maternity unit unused rooms, closets, offices, conference rooms |
| Migrant workers, field workers, agricultural workers |
Portable tents set up in the fields or under trees to provide shade; battery operated pumps, pedal pumps, or hand pumps can be available in each tent |
| Assembly line, factory workers |
Dedicated room close to worker locations, sectioned off corner of a locker room, administrative offices, conference rooms, sectioned off corner of little used areas on a manufacturing floor |
| Teachers |
Unused office of a speech pathologist, school psychologist, or guidance counselor; nurse’s office or dispensary; mother’s car; unused music or art room |
Walker M. Breastfeeding and employment: making it work. Amarillo, TX: Hale Publishing, 2011
Pictures of Example Lactation Rooms- office setting
A free toolkit developed by the US Department of Health and Human Services contains information on helping businesses support breastfeeding employees and creating a breastfeeding-friendly workplace. Download
