Georgia: Employers Must Provide Paid Lactation Breaks

Applies to:          All Employers with GA Employees

Effective:            August 11, 2020

A new piece of legislation, Georgia House Bill 1090, requires employers to provide paid lactation breaks and a private space to express breast milk, effective immediately.  Previously, employers had the option to provide unpaid break time for nursing employees to express breast milk, and were not required to provide any particular location for the employee’s use during lactation breaks.

With the new regulations, employers are now required to provide reasonable break time for employees to pump at the worksite during work hours. Lactation breaks must be paid at the employee’s regular rate of pay. Employers are further prohibited from requiring use of paid leave or reduction of salary to offset time taken off to express breast milk.

Additionally, employers are required to provide a private location other than a restroom for employees to express breast milk.

Action Items

1. Review the text of the bill here.
2. Train supervisory staff on handling requests for lactation breaks.
3. Subscribers can call our HR Hotline at (833) 268-5531 or send an email to hrsolved@onedigital.com for further assistance.