New York Labor Law § 206-c requires employers to provide nursing employees with reasonable break time to express breast milk each time such employee has a reasonable need to express breast milk for up to three years following the child’s birth.  In its FAQs, the Department of Labor has indicated that this generally means employers must provide break time at least every three hours if requested by the employee.

Currently, this required break time is unpaid.  But, effective June 19, 2024, employers will have to provide paid break time for thirty minutes and permit an employee to use existing paid break or meal time for time in excess of thirty minutes, “to allow an employee to express breast milk for such employee’s nursing child each time such employee has reasonable need to express breast milk for up to three years following child birth.”

Employers should review and update their policies and handbooks to comply with this new legal requirement.  Employers are also required to distribute the state’s Policy on the Rights of Employees to Express Break Milk to employees when they are hired, when they return to work after giving birth and annually.  This Policy has not yet been updated on the NY DOL website.

Beginning in January 2025, employers will also be required to provide employees with 20 hours of paid prenatal leave, in addition to their sick leave entitlements.  Paid prenatal personal leave shall mean leave taken for the health care services received by an employee during their pregnancy or related to such pregnancy, including physical examinations, medical procedures, monitoring and testing, and discussions with a health care provider related to the pregnancy. Stay tuned for more.