Paid Lactation Breaks
January 10, 2025
Columbia has recently revised its Lactation Policy in keeping with New York State law that now provides for 30-minute paid lactation breaks for employees.
What You Need to Know
- The following changes are effective immediately and they apply to all employees: full-time, part-time, union, non-union, hybrid and remote.
- The first 30 minutes of each break must be paid. If any employee needs more than 30 minutes for a break, they may use part or all of a paid meal or break time. Otherwise, the employee may use unpaid time.
- An employee may take as many lactation breaks as is reasonable during their work day/shift.
- Walking to the designated lactation space, setting up, pumping, and returning to the employee’s workspace are all included in the paid 30-minute break.
- How a department manages lactation breaks over 30 minutes is specific to each department. Your Senior Human Resources Business Partner will reach out to you to discuss and record how you will administrate breaks, including our obligation to distribute notice of the policy to employees returning to work after parental leave.
- How an employee requests time to pump is specific to each department, but requests must be made in writing. Effective January 22, 2025, we are asking that all employees returning from parental leave receive from their local HR department a request form that we will provide to you. If the operational needs of your department require this information, it is incumbent on you to ensure you receive, in writing, the employee’s preferred schedule for breaks.
- The employee may choose not to use the form to schedule lactation time. However, if the employee chooses not to use the form, their request must nevertheless be made in writing and can be sent to their local Human Resources office via email. The request must include the employee’s anticipated start date for breaks, as well as their preferred times to express milk. If the lactation break is expected to extend beyond 30 minutes, the employee should also indicate whether the break should be extended using their paid meal time or break time or through unpaid time. Managers and supervisors must be aware that the needs of a lactating employee may change over time.
- These paid breaks are available to employees for up to three years following the birth of a child.
- A map of available lactation rooms may be found here. This page, from our colleagues in the Office of Work/Life, also includes information about how to request access to lactation rooms as well as information about cooling and storing of milk.
- As you know from your New York Anti-Sexual Harassment Training, it is illegal to discriminate or retaliate against an employee based on their need to pump at work.
- There have been a number of recent changes to city and state legislation that affect how employees at Columbia can expect to be treated while pregnant, when dealing with a pregnancy related medical condition, and what the employee can expect when returning to work. Because there are multiple issues that our Human Resources community must be aware of, we are preparing training sessions that will be available to you early in the new year.
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