Please note: As of January 20, 2021, information in some news releases may be out of date or not reflect current policies.
News Release
U.S. Department of Labor Partners with Minnesota Department of Labor And Public Health in Webinars Addressing Breast Feeding Accommodations
MINNEAPOLIS, MN – The U.S. Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division (WHD) in Minnesota, the Minnesota Department of Labor and Industry and the Minnesota Department of Health are presenting a series of webinars on workplace provisions for supporting breastfeeding families during National Breastfeeding Month in August.
Employers, business owners and other stakeholders are encouraged to join these webinars to discuss state and federal laws that address workplace nursing and pregnancy accommodations. The events coincide with the beginning of August’s National Breastfeeding Month commemoration and World Breastfeeding Week from August 1-7, 2020. Both focus on breastfeeding’s benefits and ensuring that women have the support needed to breastfeed after returning to work.
WHD will discuss federal laws covering expressing breast milk in the workplace and related workplace accommodations. The Minnesota Department of Health will review the process for becoming a breastfeeding friendly organization and how doing so can help an employer’s bottom line. The Minnesota Department of Labor and Industry will discuss provisions of state law regarding pregnant employee accommodations, nursing in the workplace and other aspects of the Women’s Economic Security Act.
WHO: U.S. Department of Labor
Minnesota Department of Labor and Industry
Minnesota Department of Health
WHAT: Nursing Mother Webinar
WHEN: Aug. 5, 2020 at 10 a.m. CDT
Aug. 12, 2020 at 11 a.m. CDT
WHERE: Register for Aug. 5 event
Under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA), Break Time for Nursing Mothers provision, employers are required to provide a place – other than a bathroom – shielded from view and free from intrusion from coworkers and the public, where an employee can express breast milk. Employers are also required to provide reasonable break time for an employee to express breast milk for her nursing child for up to one year after the child's birth each time the employee has need to express milk.
WHD provides compliance assistance to help employers understand their responsibilities to their employees, including the right of nursing mothers to request the time and space they need to express milk without interruption and without fear of retaliation.
Additional information pertaining to pregnancy and breastfeeding during the coronavirus pandemic can be found at the following Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) links:
Frequently Asked Questions and Answers: Coronavirus Disease 2019 and Pregnancy
Interim Guidance on Breastfeeding for a Mother Confirmed or Under Investigation for the Coronavirus
For further information about the coronavirus, please visit the CDC.
WHD provides additional information on common issues employers and employees face when responding to the coronavirus and its effects on wages and hours worked under the Fair Labor Standards Act and on job-protected leave under the Family and Medical Leave Act at https://www.dol.gov/agencies/whd/pandemic.
For more information about the laws enforced by WHD, call 866-4US-WAGE, or visit www.dol.gov/agencies/whd.
The mission of the Department of Labor is to foster, promote and develop the welfare of the wage earners, job seekers and retirees of the United States; improve working conditions; advance opportunities for profitable employment; and assure work-related benefits and rights.
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