On Jan. 29, 2020, Senate Bill 327, known as “Charlotte’s Law,” was introduced in the Georgia General Assembly, requiring employers to provide reasonable breaks for pumping breastmilk. The bill was inspired by a public school teacher whose supervisor would not allow her to pump during her planned break. The teacher was given an ultimatum to either stop pumping during the break or continue pumping during the break, so long as she stayed after work to “make up” for the time.
Through the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) was amended to require covered employers to provide reasonable, unpaid break time to an employee who needed to pump breast milk for a nursing child up to one year after the child’s birth. The FLSA, as amended, also requires that the employer provide these employees a place to pump breast milk that is not a bathroom, shielded from the view of others, and free from intrusion by co-workers and the public.