Changes to city’s human rights law requires employers to post lactation accommodation policies

May 8, 2025 Brooklyn Eagle Staff

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CITYWIDE — CHANGES TO THE CITY’S HUMAN RIGHTS LAW will require employers with four or more employees in New York City to post lactation accommodation policies physically and on an intranet if the employer has one, the NYC Commission on Human Rights announced Thursday. While the lactation accommodations law has already been in place since 2018, the new Local Law 109, taking effect May 8, added the posting requirement at workplaces.

Employers must now clearly display — in a prominent workplace location — their accommodation room policies, which must outline the process for requesting a lactation room. The policies also detail the employer’s obligations to provide a clean, private space — separate from the bathroom — for lactating employees. The commission created separate policies for workplaces with varying levels of accommodation: a policy for workplaces with dedicated lactation room(s); a policy for workplaces with a multi-purpose space, other than a restroom, that may be used as a lactation room; and a policy for workplaces with no available space for a lactation room. Employers may use the version of the model policy that is most applicable to their workplace.

Employer lactation policies are required to ensure lactating employees can express milk free from harassment or discrimination; and they must be given 30 minutes of paid break time, plus other break or meal time provisions.

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