California law requires all employers (private and public) to provide “a reasonable amount of break time” to allow an employee desiring to express breast milk for the employee’s infant child each time the employee needs to express milk. If possible, the time needed to express breast milk should run concurrently with any break time that is already provided to the employee. If the time needed to express breast milk does not coincide with a break that is already provided to the employee, then the time used to express the breast milk may be unpaid. However, an employer must provide additional break time to employees who need it. Additionally, employers are required to make reasonable efforts to provide its employees with a room or other location (other than a toilet stall) near the workplace so that their employees may express breast milk in private. Employers are not required provide an employee with break time to express breast milk if doing so would seriously disrupt the operations of the employer. The law provides for a civil penalty in the amount of $100 for each day that the employee is denied time or a suitable location to express breast milk. Employees are also protected from retaliation and discrimination if they exercise their rights under the lactation accommodation law.
