New York Governor Kathy Hochul recently signed a law that expands breastfeeding accommodations, bringing the standards for private employers in line with those for public employers in the state. The law, signed on December 9, 2022, requires private employers to “designate a room or other location” that is not a “restroom or toilet stall” for employees to “express breast milk.”
The law, S.4844-B/A.1236-A, requires the New York State Department of Labor to develop a model policy regarding workplace lactation rights and that employers adopt such a policy. Employers will be required provide the written policy to each employee upon hire, annually thereafter, and to employees returning to work following the birth of a child. The law prohibits employers from discharging, threatening, penalizing or discriminating against in “any other manner” employees who seek to exercise their rights under the law.
