Illinois Requires Paid Breastfeeding Breaks

Author: Michael Cardman, XpertHR Legal Editor

August 29, 2018

Illinois has amended its Nursing Mothers in the Workplace Act in a way that appears to require covered employers to pay for any reasonable breastfeeding breaks, regardless of their length.

Effective August 21, 2018, House Bill 1595 amends the law by striking the adjective unpaid and adding a clause prohibiting employers from reducing an employee's compensation for time used to express milk or nurse a baby.

This suggests an employer must pay nonexempt employees their regular rate of pay for any reasonable breastfeeding breaks, even if they run longer than the 20-minute meal breaks required under state law and/or any other rest breaks considered compensable under federal law (breastfeeding breaks may run concurrently with any break time already provided to an employee). Whether the state government or the courts will construe the amended law this way remains to be seen; a request for comment from the Illinois Department of Labor (IDOL) had not been returned as of the time of publication.

The amendments also:

  • Limit the breastfeeding breaks requirement to one year after a child's birth; and
  • Clarify the terms the law's hardship exemption; and
  • Specify that the breastfeeding breaks are for employees who need to express milk for a nursing infant child.