Politics aside, DOL still takes nursing protections seriously.

• Position: In the News...

The U.S. Department of Labor has issued one of its first milk-expression break citations on the Trump administration's watch. The action is another indication that the department is taking seriously some provisions in the Affordable Care Act even as it has stepped away from defending the law against challenges in federal court.

The ACA amended the Fair Labor Standards Act to require unlimited breaks for nursing mothers. It requires all employers with 50 or more employees to provide private facilities to express milk. Smaller employers must comply, too, unless they can show it would be an economic hardship to do so.

DOL investigators cited an Arizona hospital for failing "to provide adequate breaks and accommodations for nursing mothers attempting to express breast milk while on the job." New mothers who wanted to continue providing breast milk for their babies despite returning to work were not provided with a private place shielded from the public to express their milk. Without privacy, it can be difficult for mothers to physically manage the task.

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