New Law Protects Workplace Rights for Nursing Mothers in New York State

August 29, 2007 -

 

Women giving birth in New York State have new workplace rights, Legal Momentum announced today. Just in time for Women's Equality Day, Governor Eliot Spitzer signed into law a requirement that employers reasonably accommodate mothers who need to express breast milk in the workplace. This new law, known as Expressing at Work, will make it easier for nursing mothers in New York to balance work and family responsibilities.

"The medical evidence is clear that a mother's breast milk provides important health benefits to her baby," said Senior Staff Attorney Julie F. Kay. "This new bill will not only protect the rights of working mothers but will improve children's health. Women in New York, and nationwide, struggle to balance their jobs and their family responsibilities, including continuing to nurse a child upon returning to work."

New York's law seeks to correct a problem encountered by nursing mothers across the country. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics and The New York Times, although nearly sixty percent of mothers with children under the age of three are employed outside the home, only one-third of large employers provide a private, secure space where women can breastfeed. The case of a teacher in a small town outside Buffalo, NY, who contacted Legal Momentum in 2006, is typical of the situation women face in most places of employment. The teacher was forbidden by her principal from using 10 minutes of her preparation periods to express breast milk or to go to the school's nearby child care center to nurse her baby. Under the new Expressing at Work law, this teacher's employer would now be required to provide her with reasonable, unpaid break time and make an effort to provide a location where she could express breast milk in private. The new law also prevents employers from discriminating against nursing mothers.

Studies show that breastfed babies are healthier, and that parents of a child who is breastfed are less likely to miss work caring for a sick child. Many employers will benefit from more productive workers who need fewer days off to take care of sick children. Research has also shown that when a mother's efforts to breastfeed are supported at her job, her breast-feeding rates are comparable to stay-at-home mothers.

For more information, contact Altagracia Levat, Legal Momentum's Vice President for Communications and Marketing, at 212.413.7510.