Since 2018, New York City law requires that all employers provide employees with lactation accommodations, including access to a private room where employees can pump/express breast milk, and reasonable time to pump/express breast milk.

As of June 2024, New York State now also requires that lactating employees be provided with 30 minutes of paid break time when the employee has reasonable need to express breast milk. This is in addition to other breaks required by law. The employer must also allow employees to use the employee’s other breaktime and mealtime to express breast milk as reasonably needed by the employee. Employees are entitled to these breaks for up to three years following childbirth.

Employers must provide employees with a space to pump breast milk which is (1) close to the employee’s work area; (2) well lit; (3) shielded from view and (4) free from intrusion from other persons in the workplace or the public. The room may be used for other purposes, but it may not be used for those purposes while in use by the employee. This room may not be a restroom or restroom stall.

The space must at minimum have a chair, a working surface and access to clean water. There must also be access to an electrical outlet unless doing so would cause undue hardship to the employer and, if possible, access to a refrigeration unit.
These requirements apply to all New York employers, regardless of size.