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Background and Information on the PUMP ACT
In case you missed it, President Biden signed off on a $1.7 trillion omnibus package, which included the Providing Urgent Maternal Protections for Nursing Mothers Act. The PUMP Act expands workplace protections for employees with a need to express breastmilk and requires that employers provide accommodations for salaried employees and other types of workers not covered under existing law. Time spent expressing breastmilk must be considered hours worked if the employee is also working and the bill also extends these accommodations from one to two years.
The Missing Pieces
This is a huge step to support maternal health in the workplace. 9 million employees who were not included in the 2010 Break Time Law are now protected, including teachers, nurses, airline crewmembers and farmworkers. It also provides clarity on pumping time and states that employers must provide a place, other than a bathroom, that is shielded from view and free from intrusion from coworkers and the public, which may be used by an employee to express breast milk. In addition, the language in this bill is important because it recognizes that expressing breast milk is considered a “physiological need,” which has largely been missing from the conversation to-date.
Women's Health
When a woman who is breastfeeding cannot express milk in the workplace, it places her health at risk because it can lead to clogged milk ducts or mastitis, which often results in tremendous pain, infection of the breast, fever and even hospitalization if not quickly treated. Expressing milk is deeply connected to a breastfeeding woman’s health and it is great to see recognition of this in federal legislation.
We Got Your Back... & Your Front Too
SimpliFed is here to help families with their baby feeding questions and needs, whether they choose to breastfeed, pump, formula feed, or a little of it all. All parents are “working parents” and all parents deserve the support they need to feed their children and feel good about it.
Here are the Top 5 Things You Need to Know about the PUMP ACT:
The Missing Pieces
This is a huge step to support maternal health in the workplace. 9 million employees who were not included in the 2010 Break Time Law are now protected, including teachers, nurses, airline crewmembers and farmworkers. It also provides clarity on pumping time and states that employers must provide a place, other than a bathroom, that is shielded from view and free from intrusion from coworkers and the public, which may be used by an employee to express breast milk. In addition, the language in this bill is important because it recognizes that expressing breast milk is considered a “physiological need,” which has largely been missing from the conversation to-date.
Women's Health
When a woman who is breastfeeding cannot express milk in the workplace, it places her health at risk because it can lead to clogged milk ducts or mastitis, which often results in tremendous pain, infection of the breast, fever and even hospitalization if not quickly treated. Expressing milk is deeply connected to a breastfeeding woman’s health and it is great to see recognition of this in federal legislation.
We Got Your Back... & Your Front Too
SimpliFed is here to help families with their baby feeding questions and needs, whether they choose to breastfeed, pump, formula feed, or a little of it all. All parents are “working parents” and all parents deserve the support they need to feed their children and feel good about it.
Here are the Top 5 Things You Need to Know about the PUMP ACT:
1
The PUMP Act requires that employers provide accommodations for salaried employees and other types of workers not covered under existing law.
This includes teachers, nurses, airline crew members and farmworkers.
2
Time spent expressing breastmilk must be considered hours worked if the employee is also working.
3
Employers Need to Be Following It Already
It was passed in December 2022 and employers across the nation were required to be in compliance by April 28, 2023.
4
It also provides clarity on pumping time and place.
The law requires employers to provide a place, other than a bathroom, that is shielded from view and free from intrusion from coworkers and the public, which may be used by an employee to express breastmilk.
5
It recognizes the expression of breastmilk as a need.
The language in this bill is important because it recognizes that expressing breastmilk is considered a “physiological need,” which has largely been missing from the conversation to-date. When a woman who is breastfeeding cannot express milk in the workplace, it places her health at risk because it can lead to clogged milk ducts or mastitis, which often results in tremendous pain, infection of the breast, fever and even hospitalization if not quickly treated. Expressing milk is deeply connected to a breastfeeding woman’s health and it is great to see recognition of this in federal legislation.
Meet Andrea Ippolito
Andrea Ippolito serves as the CEO and Founder of SimpliFed. Prior to starting SimpliFed, she served as a faculty member in the College of Engineering at Cornell and also served as the Director of the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Innovators Network within the VA Center for Innovation. Previously, she served as a Presidential Innovation Fellow based out of the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy and General Services Administration. Andrea was the Co-Founder of an innovative application that improves access to care called Smart Scheduling (acquired by athenahealth in 2016). Ms. Ippolito completed her MS in Engineering & Management at MIT and engineering degrees at Cornell.If You or a Loved One Needs More Information and Support
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Photo by Priscilla Du Preez 🇨🇦 on Unsplash
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