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New Hampshire Adopts Workplace Accommodations for Nursing Mothers


rss.shrm.org | Samuel Martin and Katharine Weber © Jackson Lewis

​New legislation in New Hampshire will guarantee the right of nursing mothers to an unpaid break of 30 minutes to pump for every three hours of work, beginning on July 1, 2025. 

This new state law comes in the wake of the 2022 federal PUMP Act, which requires employers nationwide to provide employees with reasonable break time to express breast milk for one year after a child’s birth.

Like the federal PUMP Act, the New Hampshire law will also require employers to provide nursing employees with appropriate spaces in the workplace for a period of one year following the birth of the child.

Under the state law, all employers with at least six employees working in New Hampshire will be required to adopt policies to address the use of sufficient space and reasonable break periods for nursing employees that need to express milk during working hours. Employers will be required to make this policy available to employees at the time of hire.

The law’s definition of “expression of milk” explicitly excludes breastfeeding, instead referring only to initiation of lactation by manual or mechanical means. As always, employers should consider whether there are other state or local laws that provide more generous rights regarding breastfeeding.

Employees will be required to give their employer at least two weeks’ notice prior to needing break periods and space.

The space provided to express milk must be within a reasonable walk of the employee’s worksite, unless a different location is…


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