New York State has moved forward with a new regulation that provides nursing mothers with extra break time during the workday. In the New York State 2024-2025 budget, there is a passage for what is termed “Paid Nursing Leave”. Although it is sparse on particulars, it does contain important new details for break time that employers will have to be mindful of.

- Nursing mothers will have at least one additional 30-minute break period for the purpose of expressing breast milk (there are no specifics on how many extra break periods an employer is required to provide). An employee has the option of using an already-provided paid break time to express, but is not required to do so.

- Breaks provided under this regulation must be paid.

Few details have been revealed about the new leave thus far. However, it is clear that handbook passages providing “reasonable unpaid breaktime” for lactation purposes will no longer be compliant. FNA will update this article as soon as more concrete guidelines are released by the state.

This new Paid Nursing Leave is set to take effect on June 19, 2024. You can read the key aspects of the 2024-2025 budget HERE.