On August 1, 2025, a new workplace right, the Puerto Rico Lactation Code (“Code”), was signed into law and took immediate effect. The Code replaces Law 427-2000 and other lactation-related regulations in Puerto Rico and consolidates the breastfeeding/lactation rights of employees and employer obligations into one statute. Here are some key provisions of the Code that Puerto Rico employers and employees should know about:
- Paid daily leave for breastfeeding or expressing milk. Upon returning to work from maternity leave and for at least 12 months after that, public and private employees must be provided with a reasonable period of leave each workday to express milk or breastfeed their child. The length of this “reasonable period” is based on the nursing employee’s needs but may not be less than one hour per day. This break is treated as hours worked requiring employees to be paid. The code also eliminates the need for employees to provide a medical certification to take this time off.
- Breastfeeding/lactation space. All employers must provide a designated lactation space, which may not be a restroom, for nursing employees to breastfeed their child and express breast milk. This space must be clean, private, safe, ventilated, and be equipped with seating, electrical power, access to water, a door with a lock, and a refrigerator for storing breast milk only.
- Discrimination and retaliation prohibited. The code prohibits employers from considering a worker’s breastfeeding and lactation needs in imposing discipline, conducting performance reviews, determining compensation, in switching shifts, or in making any other adverse employment decision.
- Application to union workers. The code allows private sector union contracts to expand employee breastfeeding and lactation rights from those it establishes. A union contract, however, may not reduce an employee’s lactation rights.
- Notice requirement. Employers must notify all employees of their rights under the code.
- Enforcement. The Puerto Rico department of labor and the Puerto Rico Women’s Advocate Office (WAO) have authority to investigate, file complaints, and impose penalties for an employer’s violation of the code. Additionally, aggrieved workers may file claims in court or with the WAO to recover damages.
Puerto Rico’s expanded Lactation Code creates a more supportive workplace by providing explicit legal guidelines and strong protection for employees using breastfeeding/lactation periods.
To support compliance, Puerto Rico employers should immediately update their employee handbooks, policies, and union contracts, to include these new requirements, and provide all workers with written notice of their rights under the Code. And finally, employers should train their managers, supervisors, and human resource department personnel in this law to treat nursing employees fairly and to avoid costly violations.
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