Effective May 8, 2025, New York City employers with four or more employees must physically post a copy of their written lactation policy in an area accessible to employees as well as on its intranet if one exists.

This new posting obligation is an addition to the City’s requirement that covered employers maintain a written lactation room accommodation policy that must be provided to new employees upon hire and New York State’s requirement to provide the policy annually. The City enacted legislation on November 9, 2024, effective 180 days later, amending existing provisions to require covered employers to make their written policies readily available to employees.

In addition, the legislation amended the ordinance to reflect 2024 changes in New York State law (explained in detail here) requiring employers to provide at least 30 minutes of paid break time for breast milk expression. While the New York City ordinance covers only New York City employers with four or more employees, be aware that obligations for paid lactation breaks under New York State Labor Law § 206-c apply to all employers in New York State.

To be compliant, the lactation policy must clearly state that employees have the right to request a private space to express breast milk and outline the steps for making such a request. The policy should also inform employees that the employer will provide 30 minutes of paid break time for employees to express breast milk and shall further permit an employee to use existing paid breaks or mealtime if additional time is needed, as required under state law.

The mandatory 30-minute paid break is additional to any regular paid break time. Moreover, the law requires employers to allow employees to take further breaks (paid or unpaid) sufficient for their needs, unless doing so poses an undue hardship. These issues are addressed in updated FAQs released by the New York City Commission on Human Rights (NYCCHR) (see especially Qs 7-10). As a reminder, if providing a lactation room would pose an undue hardship, employers must inform employees of their obligation to engage in a cooperative dialogue with the employee to find a suitable solution.

Notably, as of this posting, the NYCCHR guidance page regarding lactation accommodations still links old versions of the downloadable model policies that do not reflect the law’s requirement for paid breaks. As such, employers may wish, at least at this time, not to rely on the City’s model policies in order to effectuate this requirement.

We are ready to help you develop a compliant lactation policy tailored to your needs and guide you through the new posting requirement. The following chart summarizes the State and City requirements regarding posting and distributing the policy:

* New York City-based employers must also distribute a Notice of Pregnancy Accommodations at Work poster to new hires. If available, this poster must be provided in the employee’s native language.

Elizabeth A. Ledkovsky contributed to this article