McDonald Hopkins Law Firm Alert: Freedom of Expression -- Health Care Reform Produces Federally Mandated Break Time for Nursing Mothers

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Apr 30, 2010, 01:17 ET

CLEVELAND, April 30 /PRNewswire/ -- The recent and massive health care reform bill, titled the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (the Act), was hotly debated and garnered much media attention prior to its passage. One provision of the Act, however, received none of the media spotlight, yet will have a significant impact on a number of employers. The Act amends Section 207 of the federal Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) to now require employers to provide unpaid break times during the work day for nursing mothers to express breast milk. Specifically, Section 4207 of the Act, "Reasonable Break Time for Nursing Mothers," states that an employer must provide a reasonable break time for an employee to express breast milk for her nursing child up to one year after the child's birth every time such employee has need to express the milk.

The nursing mother break time requirement took effect immediately upon President Obama's signing of the Act; however, the rules for enforcement have not yet been put in place. The Department of Labor (DOL) is in the process of developing regulations to implement this new nursing mother break time requirement.

For more information, please contact:

Nicole Gray
[email protected]
216.348.5418

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McDonald Hopkins Alert – Freedom of Expression: Health Care Reform Produces Federally Mandated Break Time For Nursing Mothers

http://www.mcdonaldhopkins.com/alerts/alert.aspx?id=RrFm9zXW90O88eLKotPEow

About McDonald Hopkins

With more than 130 attorneys in Chicago, Cleveland, Columbus, Detroit, and West Palm Beach, McDonald Hopkins is a business advisory and advocacy law firm focused on business law, litigation, business restructuring, labor and employment, government affairs, healthcare, and estate planning. The president of McDonald Hopkins is Carl J. Grassi. For more information about McDonald Hopkins, visit http://www.mcdonaldhopkins.com.