Pregnant Workers & New Parents
Do You Know Your Workplace Rights as a Pregnant Worker and/or New Parent?
Parenting, and becoming a parent, can be a great joy—but it can also be hard work! Minnesota has laws relating to pregnant and new parents' workplace rights regarding:
· Pregnancy accommodations
· Expressing milk in the workplace
· State pregnancy and parental leave
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.
There's Much More to Know!
Understanding workplace requirements can sometimes be confusing,
Fortunately, there are resources to help. Detailed information about existing and new workplace requirements for pregnant workers and parents can be found HERE
Let MTP Help You Share this Important Info for Workers
Want to share information with your union members, or another group, about worker rights as they relate to being pregnant, a new parent, and related workplace issues? MTP can help! Contact Debbie HERE