As part of the Omnibus Jobs and Economic Growth Finance and Policy Bill, Minnesota Governor Tim Walz has approved an amendment relating to pregnancy accommodations and barring reducing compensation for lactation breaks, among other changes. The amendment goes into effect on January 1, 2022.
Under Minnesota law, employers must provide employees who need to express
Governor Ned Lamont has signed into law additional protections for breastfeeding workers. Connecticut law already requires all employers to “make reasonable efforts to provide a room or other location, in close proximity to the work area, other than a toilet” where an employee can express milk in private and also prohibits discrimination or retaliation against
A new California law, Senate Bill 142 (“SB 142”), effective January 1, 2020, expands on existing Labor Code requirements for employee lactation accommodations and provides significant new consequences to employers for non-compliance. Under pre-existing law (Cal. Labor Code 1030 et seq.), employers were required to make reasonable efforts to provide a private location, other than
California Governor Jerry Brown signed into law Assembly Bill 1976, expanding California employer obligations respective to employee lactation accommodation. Under preexisting California Labor Code section 1031, an employer was required to make available a private location, other than a toilet stall, for an employee to express milk for an infant child, and provide employees
With the turn of the year comes a wave of new California disability and leave laws. Employers should review their existing policies and procedures to determine if they will be in compliance with these new laws—many of which will go into effect on January 1:
It comes down to the definition of "medical condition." The Pregnancy Discrimination Act, an amendment to Title VII, prohibits discrimination based on "pregnancy, childbirth, or related medical conditions." Lactation is none of these, a federal district court held last year, granting summary judgment to the employer. See our post of that decision here.
Reversing
Lactation discrimination does not violate Title VII, according to a Texas federal district court in a case brought by the EEOC. EEOC v. Houston Funding II (S.D. Tex. February 2, 2012). The EEOC claimed the employer fired the worker because she wanted to pump breast milk at work.
In granting summary judgment to the employer