Workplaces work to accommodate nursing mothers,

When the Adagio Health nonprofit moved into new Downtown offices at the end of 2017, management realized there was a problem.

The move had eliminated individual offices for most of the 50-person Downtown staff. And with four pregnant workers, the nonprofit would need a space for those staffers to pump breast milk when they returned from maternity leave.

Employee Casey Monroe consulted with professional lactation consultants to design a room that was comfortable and close to the kitchen.

Adagio Health purchased a hospital grade pump so employees, many of whom take public transportation, didn’t have to lug a pump in from home. The company even purchased spare parts, so forgetting a piece of plastic at home wouldn’t derail a nursing mother’s day.

“It can be a daunting task, especially when you just come back to work,” said Alicia Schisler, chief of external affairs. “I think from our standpoint, if mom is here and has a wonderful space, she feels comfortable. There are advantages to her and advantages to the employer as well if she feels good about what’s happening at work.”

Businesses in the Pittsburgh region have found different solutions to accommodating new mothers who wish to take time out of their day to pump breast milk.

In an effort to encourage a positive attitude about nursing mothers in the workplace, Allegheny County gives out annual awards to workplaces and public spaces — such as Adagio Health — that make an extra effort.

Since the county started giving out the awards two decades ago, there have been increasingly impressive efforts from various workplaces that far exceed legal requirements.

For a year after women have a baby, federal law requires that employers with more than 15 employees give hourly workers unpaid break time for pumping and to provide a private space, other than a bathroom, to do so. Workplaces with less than 50 workers are exempt under federal law from providing the breaks if doing so would impose an undue hardship.

State law applies similar protections to workplaces with four or more employees. Some localities, such as Philadelphia and Pittsburgh, have implemented broader requirements, such as including salaried workers.

Most of the time when she fields complaints from workers about lack of accommodation for pumping, Amal Bass, a Philadelphiabased staff attorney at the Women’s Law Project, recommends that they show their employers Fact Sheet 73 from the U.S. Department of Labor. It covers requirements for workplaces to provide nursing mothers under the Fair Labor Standards Act.

Often, she said, employers are not aware of the requirements, which came into effect in 2010.

A bill to expand those protections statewide has languished in the state house, said Ms. Bass, despite the fact that many other states have passed statewide laws with protections for nursing mothers.

“What we’ve found is that giving the employee time to pump and space to pump is often not as arduous as the employer thinks it is,” she said. “It doesn’t last that long.”