On behalf of Girard Bengali, APC posted on Friday, February 1, 2019.
California residents may be surprised to hear that breastfeeding discrimination cases have increased by 800 percent in the last decade. Even though protections being afforded to nursing mothers have gone up, there is still a long way to go before things become equal. Especially after a report shockingly reveals that millions of breastfeeding mothers who believed they were entitled to protection under the Break Time for Nursing Mothers provision added to the Fair Labor Standards Act are actually not entitled to it.
Nine million females of the 27 million who lack basic provisions to breastfeed are excluded from the federal provision because the law has been attached to the older FLSA of 1938-though the older law is broader it does not extend protection to all professions. As a result, teachers and nurses, fields dominated by women, are not covered. Other fields such as transportation workers, retail employees and managers and farmworkers, are also excluded from the law.
The federal law guarantees certain protections at work, such as break times to pump and a space other than a bathroom to do so. Even though it sounds fairly simple for employers to do, millions of female workers are denied these basic provisions, even where the law requires they be provided. As a result, women face sexual harassment and sexual discrimination in the workplace.
If someone is facing harassment or discrimination in the workplace, they may be able to pursue employment law litigation. Discussing one’s legal options with an experienced attorney may be one way to get a workplace free of discrimination.
