New Jersey Employers Must Accommodate Breastfeeding Mothers

The New Jersey Law Against Discrimination (NJLAD) was recently amended to prohibit discrimination against breastfeeding employees. Not only does the amendment prohibit discrimination against such employees, but it also requires employers to provide breastfeeding employees with a reasonable accommodation to express breastmilk. 

 The accommodation must include a reasonable break time each day and a private location near the employee's work area for the employee to express breastmilk, unless an employer can show an accommodation would impose an "undue hardship" on its business. 

This accommodation requirement is similar, but not identical to a provision added to the the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) in 2010. Significantly, the FLSA requires an accommodation to express breastmilk for only up to one year after the birth of the child. New Jersey's accommodation requirement contains no such limitation.

In light of the FLSA requirement, New Jersey employers should already have an accommodation policy for breastfeeding mothers. New Jersey employers should now review their policies to make sure they do in fact have an accommodation policy and update the policy, if necessary, to remove any one-year limitation period.

 Please contact us at (201) 345-5412 or info@morealaw.com if you have questions about your business's accommodation obligations or policies.