By Betsy Vazquez-Aradio, Public Health Educator

New parents face many decisions. Choosing how to feed their child is a crucial decision influenced by various factors, including support at work. Supportive workplaces can empower parents to select the feeding method that suits them best, whether it’s breastfeeding or chestfeeding.

Employers who support human milk feeding typically see more employees return after parental leave and experience higher job satisfaction. With healthier children and parents, there are fewer missed workdays, lower healthcare costs, and greater productivity.

Breastfeeding or chestfeeding offers many benefits for both the parent and child. Parents who breastfeed or chestfeed and their children have a lower risk of illness, chronic diseases, and certain types of cancer.

Promoting breastfeeding or chestfeeding is a top priority for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to enhance parental and child health. The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) and the World Health Organization (WHO) recommend that children be exclusively fed human milk for the first 6 months. At 6 months, parents are encouraged to start introducing solid foods while continuing to feed human milk.

Erie County Department of Health (ECDOH) recognizes that parents face many challenges with breastfeeding or chestfeeding. Deciding whether to return to work or stop feeding human milk because of the difficulty of expressing milk away from home should not be a challenge. Since 2017, ECDOH has helped businesses meet the criteria for designation as a Breastfeeding, Chestfeeding, and Lactation-Friendly Worksite. This designation shows that employers support their employees’ right to express milk at work to feed their children human milk.

Starting June 19, 2024, the New York State Department of Labor (NYSDOL) Law Section 206-c was updated to give all employees the right to paid break time to express breast milk in the workplace, regardless of their employer’s size or industry. Employers must inform employees about their rights regarding breast milk expression by providing them with the NYSDOL Policy on the Rights of Employees to Express Breast Milk in the Workplace when they begin a new job and every year afterward (https://dol.ny.gov/expressing-breast-milk-workplace).

Minimum Requirements Established by NYS Labor Law Section 206-C

Employers must provide their employees with:

  • 30-minute paid breaks whenever they have a reasonable need to express milk, available for up to 3 years after their child’s birth.
  • A private area (not a restroom) near their work site that is well-lit, out of sight, and free from interruptions, including a chair, flat surface, nearby clean, running water, and, if possible, access to electricity and a refrigerator for storing expressed milk.
  • A lactation accommodation policy established at hire, reviewed annually, and upon return from parental leave that includes language prohibiting discrimination and retaliation against expressing milk at the worksite or filing a complaint with the Department of Labor.

ECDOH can support employers in meeting NYSDOL standards while creating a welcoming environment for lactating families. To learn more, join the free “Worksite Panel Discussion” on Wednesday, April 29, 2026, from 9:00 a.m. to 10:30 a.m. at the United Way of Buffalo & Erie County, 742 Delaware Ave., Buffalo, NY. For more information or to register, visit www.erie.gov/breastfeedingevent, email healthequity@erie.gov, or call 716-858-4752.