Please be advised that the recent Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act of 2010 amended the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) to require that employers provide employees with the ability to take unpaid breaks for a "reasonable" amount of time for the purpose of expressing milk for nursing infants up to one year old.  In addition, employers are now required to provide a private area for this purpose that is shielded from and free from intrusion by coworkers (bathrooms are not permissible).  Employers with less than 50 employees are excluded from the new requirements if they can demonstrate that compliance would create an undue hardship by causing significant difficulty or expense when considered in relation to the employer’s size, financial resources, nature or physical structure.  Importantly, employees who are exempt under Section 213 of the FLSA are not entitled to these breaks (this includes employees who qualify for the executive, administrative, professional, outside sales, or computer professional exemptions).  

 

The Department of Labor is expected to issue guidelines that will define what constitutes a "reasonable" break time and how frequently such breaks may be permitted.  In the meantime, however, compliance is encouraged to the greatest extent possible.  Please note that this amendment does not preempt any state or local law that provides greater protection to employees. 

 

If you have questions regarding this new law, please contact an MBA Human Resources Manager at 1.888.622.6460.