Smokers shouldn’t be the only ones taking breaks during the workday. New mothers—Grab your pumps (that's breast pumps, not heels) and head to work, if you please. You may be entitled to the breaks you need.
A new bill pushed by two Philadelphia lawmakers may require businesses to provide new moms with adequate time and space to pump while on the job.
“I think this legislation goes a long way to providing reasonable accommodations to new mothers without having to be stigmatized or feel embarrassment or being shunned to the bathroom,” Montgomery County state representative Rick Taylor told KYW Newsradio.
Mothers are the fastest-growing segment of the U.S. labor force, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, with one-third of new mommies heading back to work just three months after birth.
That said, this bill fights to give mothers the ability to continue breastfeeding while having a presence in the workforce with time to pump, the necessary accommodations to pump and store milk and support from employers.
