Lactation at Work: Expressed Milk, Expressing Beliefs, and the Expressive Value of Law

The Lactation at Work Law (an amendment to the US Fair Labor Standards Act) mandated accommodations for lactating women in 2010, leading to successful change through advocacy, education, and employee initiative. This book examines the federal law and its state-level equivalent in Indiana and shows how a successful civil rights law creates effective change, helps labor activists and management personnel understand how to approach new accommodations, and enables workers to understand the possibilities for amelioration of workplace problems through internal negotiations and legal reforms.

Format: Paperback / softback
Length: 256 pages
Publication date: 29 September 2022
Publisher: Cambridge University Press

In recent decades, as women entered the US workforce in increasing numbers, they faced the challenging dilemma of how to maintain breastfeeding and hold down full-time jobs. In 2010, the Lactation at Work Law (an amendment to the US Fair Labor Standards Act) became a significant milestone, mandating accommodations for lactating women. This comprehensive book delves into the federal law and its state-level equivalent in Indiana, drawing upon two waves of in-depth interviews with human resource personnel, supervising managers, and lactating workers. In many ways, this straightforward law, which requires break time and privacy for pumping, can be considered a success story. Through the advocacy efforts of allies, the education of managers, and the initiative of employees, numerous organizations have successfully created compliant accommodations. This book serves as a valuable resource for legal scholars, providing insights into how a successful civil rights law can bring about effective change. It also assists labor activists and management personnel in understanding how to approach new accommodations and empowers workers to explore the possibilities for resolving workplace problems through internal negotiations and legal reforms.

ISBN-13: 9781108726498