Pregnancy & Parenting

You may already be aware of some of these rights. However, effective July 1, 2023, workplace protections for expectant and new parents were expanded in Minnesota. Changes include:

· Requiring all nursing and lactating employees receive break times to express milk regardless of their child’s age without losing compensation.

· Requiring workplace lactation spaces be clean, private, and secure.

· Ensuring all nursing and lactating employees have a right to break times to express milk regardless of whether providing the breaks unduly disrupts the operations of the employer.

· Ensuring employees can choose when to express milk based on their needs, whether that means expressing milk during an existing paid break, during an existing unpaid break, such as a meal break, or during some other time.

Other changes:

· Requiring employers notify all employees of the rights of pregnant and lactating employees when hired, when an employee makes an inquiry about or requests parental leave and in an employee handbook if one is provided. The notice must be provided in English and the primary language of the employee. The Minnesota Department of Labor and Industry (DLI) makes the required notice language available for employers in English and the five most common languages spoken in Minnesota.

· Expanding the statutory list of example reasonable pregnancy accommodations to include a temporary leave of absence, a modification to work schedule or job assignment and more frequent or longer breaks.

· Ensuring all employees, regardless of their employer’s size or amount of time for which they have worked for their employer, have a right to pregnancy accommodations and up to 12 weeks of unpaid pregnancy and parental leave.

Pregnant Workers & New Parents

Do You Know Your Workplace Rights as a Pregnant Worker and/or New Parent?

You may already be aware of some of these rights. However, effective July 1, 2023, workplace protections for expectant and new parents were expanded in Minnesota. Changes include:

Other changes:

There's Much More to Know!

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