New York City to Require Employers to Physically and Electronically Post Lactation Room Accommodation Policy

Quick Hits

• New York City employers will be required to physically and electronically post a written lactation room accommodation policy to employees.
• The recent amendment also aligns New York City law with New York State law requirements to provide paid break time for employees who need to express or pump breast milk.
• The changes take effect on May 11, 2025.

The new amendments in Int No. 0892-2024, which became law on November 12, 2024, change existing language under the New York City Human Rights Law requiring employers to “develop and implement a written policy regarding the provision of a lactation room.”

Under the new amendments, employers will be required to “make such written policy readily available to employees, by, at a minimum, conspicuously posting such policy at an employer’s place of business in an area accessible to employees and electronically on such employer’s intranet, if one exists.” This requirement is in addition to an employer’s obligation to distribute a written policy to all employees “at the commencement of employment.”

The new amendment also incorporates recent changes to New York State’s lactation break law that went into effect in June 2024, requiring covered employers to provide paid thirty-minute breaks for employees who need to express breast milk for a nursing child. In addition to providing such paid break time, employers must also provide a statement in their written policy that they will provide “30 minutes of paid break time, and … permit an employee to use existing paid break time or meal time for time in excess of 30 minutes to express breast milk.” (Emphasis added).

New York City Lactation Laws

In 2018, New York City enacted Local Law 185 and Local Law 186, requiring employers to provide lactation accommodations for employees who need to express or pump breast milk at work and establish a written policy for using lactation rooms.

Local Law 185 requires employers to provide a dedicated “lactation room” that is “a sanitary place, other than a restroom, that can be used to express breast milk shielded from view and free from intrusion.” The lactation room must include “an electrical outlet, a chair, a surface on which to place a breast pump and other personal items, and nearby access to running water.” Covered employers must also provide “a refrigerator suitable for breast milk storage in reasonable proximity to such employee’s work area.”

Additionally, Local Law 186 requires covered employers to develop a written lactation room accommodation policy that includes, among other things, an explanation for how employees can submit requests to use the lactation room, a procedure for when two or more employees request to use the room, and a statement that employers will respond to requests within a “reasonable amount of time,” which is not to exceed five business days.

Next Steps

New York City employers may want to carefully review and revise their current break policies and practices to ensure compliance with this amendment. Specifically, New York City employers  may want to ensure their lactation room policies are electronically and physically posted and include a statement regarding an employee’s right to an additional thirty minutes of paid break time to express breast milk.

The New York City Commission on Human Rights has published a model lactation accommodation policy as guidance to employers on its website.

Ogletree Deakins’ New York office will continue to monitor developments and will provide updates on the Leaves of Absence, New York, and Wage and Hour blogs.

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