U.S. Department of Labor Investigation Results in City Of Detroit Creating Employee Lactation Stations

DETROIT, MI – The City of Detroit, Michigan, has created a total of five lactation stations and amended its break policy to accommodate nursing employees’ needs to express and store milk during the workday. The policy changes follow an investigation by the U.S. Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division (WHD), which determined the City was not complying with the Break Time for Nursing Mothers provision of Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA).

WHD investigators found a city transportation employee was unable to travel to the designated lactation station, pump and store milk, clean-up, and return within the 30-minute timeframe provided by the City. Investigators also found a lack of adequate lactation sites for employees working throughout Detroit and that the city failed to post FLSA posters containing information on the Nursing Mother Provision at the city Department of Transportation worksite visited.

“The changes resulting from this investigation will positively impact the workplace for current and future nursing mothers by removing barriers that make it difficult for them to balance providing nutrition to their children and their workplace duties,” said Timolin Mitchell, Wage and Hour Division Director in Detroit. “We encourage employers to contact the U.S. Department of Labor for information to ensure they understand their responsibilities under the law. The Wage and Hour Division provides a variety of tools for employers to ensure that they operate in compliance.”

For more information about the FLSA and other laws enforced by WHD, contact the Division’s toll-free helpline at 866-4US-WAGE (487-9243). All calls are confidential. More information is available online at http://www.dol.gov/whd/.