California law requires that employers provide female employees who wish to express breast milk for nursing infants with:
- A reasonable opportunity to take breaks for the purpose of expressing breast milk, which can be timed with the employee’s regular break schedule; and
- Reasonable access to a private location to express breast milk, other than public restrooms if possible, that is in close proximity to the employee’s regular work area.
Failure to provide breastfeeding employees with the time and facilities to privately express breast milk are subject to a $100 civil penalty for each violation.
In addition to civil penalties, employers who discipline employees who use break time to express breast milk or feed a nursing infant can be on the hook for sex discrimination—as one California employer recently learned.
Acosta Tacos, a Los Angeles-based taqueria chain, maintained a pregnancy leave policy in its employee handbook stating only that employees would be permitted to take pregnancy leave. This was Acosta’s only pregnancy-related policy.
Marina Chavez, a cashier at Acosta Taco, was granted pregnancy leave. However, Acosta failed to return her to her same position upon her return from leave, in violation of California law. Instead, Acosta scheduled her for sporadic swing shifts at various locations. During one of Chavez’s meal breaks, her husband brought their baby to the store so that she could breastfeed. Because no private location was made available, Chavez was forced to breastfeed her infant in the family car in the taqueria’s parking lot.
The next day, Acosta terminated Chavez for breastfeeding during her shift and on company property. The California Department of Fair Employment and Housing (DFEH) found that Acosta engaged in pregnancy discrimination by failing to return Chavez to her re-leave position, and sex discrimination both by terminating her for breastfeeding, and by failing to provide time and facilities to allow her to do so.