We All Benefit promotes acceptance of breastfeeding in public spaces and increased workplace supports for nursing moms. We want to inspire people to adopt an attitude that supports and celebrates nursing moms whenever, wherever! Not all mothers can or choose to, but when more women do breastfeed, we all save money and stay healthier.
We All Benefit is based
in Southern Maine.
Contact us to join the campaign or become an Action Team volunteer.
Disclaimer
We All Benefit may link its site to other websites that are maintained by third parties. These other sites are not under the Opportunity Alliance or City of Portland's control and we are not responsible for the contents of such sites. We All Benefit provides these links as a convenience to you and the inclusion of a link on the We All Benefit website does not constitute an endorsement or recommendation by the Opportunity Alliance or the City of Portland of the products or services offered or promoted at the linked site.
Maine Law Supports Break Time for Nursing Mothers
Thanks to strong advocacy by Maine breastfeeding champions, Maine's labor law was amended in September 2009 to include provisions for an employee who is a nursing mother, requiring the employer (for three years after the birth of a child) to:
- Offer “adequate unpaid break time, or permit an employee to use paid break time or meal time each day to express breast milk for her nursing child.”
- “Make reasonable efforts to provide a clean room or other location, other than a bathroom, where an employee may express breast milk in privacy.”
Some employers “may be exempted from this section if providing time or an appropriate private space for expressing breast milk would substantially disrupt the employer's operations.”
For more info, visit the Maine WIC website:
http://www.maine.gov/dhhs/mecdc/local-public-health/wic/families/families-breastfeeding-workplace-support.shtml
Federal Law Supports Break Time for Nursing Mothers
The break time requirements became effective when the Affordable Care Act was signed into law on March 23, 2010. The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (“Affordable Care Act”) amended section 7 of the Fair Labor Standards Act (“FLSA”). The amendment requires employers to provide reasonable break time and a private non-bathroom place for nursing mothers to express breast milk during the workday, for one year after the child's birth.
The federal law DOES NOT preempt the Maine law, so in some aspects,
Maine mothers have greater protections. For more information, visit the United States Breastfeeding Committee (USBC)
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)