Pregnancy, Childbirth and Lactation Accommodations in New York

Federal, New York State and New York City law each require employers to make reasonable accommodations for pregnancy, childbirth and related conditions, and each also addresses expressing breast milk at work.⁠^{[2][3][5][11][9][12]} The layers differ on which employers are covered, what condition triggers the duty, and how breaks and space for lactation are handled.⁠^{[1][4][6][11]}

The three accommodation laws side by side

Question	Federal: Pregnant Workers Fairness Act (PWFA)	New York State Human Rights Law (NYSHRL)	New York City Human Rights Law (NYCHRL)
Which employers	15 or more employees⁠[1]	All employers within the state⁠[4]	Not employers with fewer than four persons in their employ⁠[6]
What is accommodated	Known limitations related to pregnancy, childbirth or related medical conditions, whether or not they are a disability under the ADA⁠[2]	"Pregnancy-related conditions": a medical condition related to pregnancy or childbirth, including lactation⁠[3]	The needs of an employee for pregnancy, childbirth or a related medical condition⁠[5]
What the employer has to know	The limitation has been communicated by the employee or her representative⁠[2]	The condition is "known"⁠[13]	The condition "is known or should have been known"⁠[5]
Employer's defense	Undue hardship, which the employer demonstrates⁠[2]	Undue hardship⁠[13][14]	Undue hardship, which the employer has the burden of proving; also an affirmative defense that the employee could not satisfy the essential requisites of the job with accommodation⁠[15][5]

Separately from accommodation, federal Title VII defines discrimination "because of sex" to include discrimination because of pregnancy, childbirth or related medical conditions.⁠^[16]

Federal law: the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act

The PWFA went into effect on June 27, 2023, and covers employers with 15 or more employees.⁠^[1] It makes it unlawful for a covered employer not to make reasonable accommodations to the known limitations related to the pregnancy, childbirth or related medical conditions of a qualified employee, unless the employer can demonstrate undue hardship.⁠^[2] A "known limitation" is a physical or mental condition related to, affected by, or arising out of pregnancy, childbirth or related medical conditions that has been communicated to the employer, "whether or not such condition meets the definition of disability" in the ADA.⁠^[2]

Four features of the federal statute stand out:

• Temporary inability to do an essential function. An employee is still "qualified" under the PWFA if an inability to perform an essential function is for a temporary period, the function could be performed in the near future, and the inability can be reasonably accommodated.⁠^[17]
• No forced leave. It is unlawful to require a qualified employee to take paid or unpaid leave if another reasonable accommodation can be provided.⁠^[7]
• No imposed accommodation. It is unlawful to require an employee to accept an accommodation other than one arrived at through the interactive process.⁠^[7]
• ADA terms. "Reasonable accommodation" and "undue hardship" have the meanings they have in the ADA, including the interactive process typically used to determine an appropriate accommodation.⁠^[18]

For private-sector employees, the PWFA uses Title VII's procedures and remedies, including the EEOC charge process, and it has its own prohibition on retaliation.⁠^[19] Damages may not be awarded in an accommodation case if the employer demonstrates good-faith efforts, in consultation with the employee, to identify and make a reasonable accommodation.⁠^[19] The Act does not invalidate or limit State or local laws that provide greater or equal protection.⁠^[18]

About the federal regulation. The EEOC issued its final PWFA regulation on April 15, 2024, and it went into effect on June 18, 2024. The text of 29 C.F.R. part 1636 dated October 1, 2026, still shows that 2024 rule as its source.⁠^[20] This page describes the statute and does not rely on details that appear only in the regulation. It does not cover court rulings or later agency action affecting parts of that regulation.

New York State law

The NYSHRL makes it an unlawful discriminatory practice for an employer to refuse to provide reasonable accommodations to the known "pregnancy-related conditions" of an employee or prospective employee.⁠^[13] A pregnancy-related condition is a medical condition related to pregnancy or childbirth that inhibits the exercise of a normal bodily function or is demonstrable by medically accepted clinical or laboratory diagnostic techniques, "including but not limited to lactation."⁠^[3] The statute says pregnancy-related conditions "shall be treated as temporary disabilities."⁠^[3]

Because the NYSHRL covers all employers within the state, this duty has no minimum employee count.⁠^[4] The statute's examples of reasonable accommodation include job restructuring and modified work schedules, provided the action does not impose an undue hardship.⁠^[13]

Two further State rules apply:

• Medical information. The employee cooperates in providing medical or other information that is necessary to verify the existence of the pregnancy-related condition or to consider the accommodation, and has a right to have that information kept confidential.⁠^[21]
• No compelled leave. It is an unlawful discriminatory practice for an employer to compel an employee who is pregnant to take a leave of absence, unless the pregnancy prevents the employee from performing the activities of the job in a reasonable manner.⁠^[8]

New York City law

In New York City, it is an unlawful discriminatory practice for an employer to refuse a reasonable accommodation "to the needs of an employee for the employee's pregnancy, childbirth, or related medical condition" that will allow the employee to perform the essential requisites of the job, where the condition is known or should have been known by the employer.⁠^[5] The provision does not apply to an employer with fewer than four persons in its employ; independent contractors working in furtherance of the business are counted.⁠^[6]

The City law defines a reasonable accommodation as one that can be made without undue hardship and places the burden of proving undue hardship on the employer.⁠^[15] The employer has an affirmative defense that the employee could not, with reasonable accommodation, satisfy the essential requisites of the job.⁠^[5]

Process is a separate obligation in the city. An employer has to engage in a cooperative dialogue within a reasonable time with a person who has requested an accommodation related to pregnancy, childbirth or a related medical condition, or who the employer has notice may require one.⁠^[22] At the end of the dialogue the employer provides a written final determination identifying any accommodation granted or denied.⁠^[23] City employers also have to give new employees written notice of the right to be free from discrimination in relation to pregnancy, childbirth and related medical conditions.⁠^[5] See the interactive process and cooperative dialogue.

Expressing breast milk at work

Question	Federal	New York State	New York City
Break time	Reasonable break time each time the employee has need to express milk⁠[11]	Paid break time for thirty minutes each time the employee has reasonable need, plus use of existing paid break or meal time beyond that⁠[9]	Employer's written policy states it will provide 30 minutes of paid break time under the State law⁠[12]
How long after birth	1 year⁠[11]	Up to three years⁠[9]	The City provision refers to the State break rule⁠[12]
Space	A place, other than a bathroom, shielded from view and free from intrusion⁠[11]	On request, a room or location close to the work area, well lit, shielded from view, with a chair, a working surface, nearby clean running water and an outlet if the workplace has electricity; not a restroom⁠[24]	A lactation room and a refrigerator suitable for breast milk storage, each in reasonable proximity to the work area⁠[12]
Limits	An employer with fewer than 50 employees is exempt only if compliance would impose an undue hardship⁠[11]	If the room would be an undue hardship, the employer still makes reasonable efforts to provide a private non-restroom location⁠[24]	If the room poses an undue hardship, a cooperative dialogue is required; the four-person employer rule applies⁠[12][6]

The State Department of Labor says the paid-break rule in Labor Law § 206-c began June 19, 2024, and applies regardless of the size of the employer or its industry.⁠^[9] Descriptions of New York lactation breaks as unpaid do not reflect the current State rule, and the one-year period is the federal rule, not the State one.⁠^[9][11]

Under the State law, employers give employees the Labor Commissioner's written lactation policy on hire, annually and on return from childbirth, respond to a room request within five business days, and may not retaliate.⁠^[24] In New York City, the employer's written lactation room accommodation policy likewise provides for a response to a request within five business days.⁠^[12]

Prenatal appointments, sick leave and time off around birth

Paid prenatal leave. In addition to sick leave, New York Labor Law § 196-b requires every employer, on and after January 1, 2025, to provide 20 hours of paid prenatal personal leave during any 52-week period. It covers health care services received by an employee during or related to the pregnancy, including physical examinations, medical procedures, monitoring and testing, and discussions with a health care provider.⁠^[10] It may be taken in hourly increments and is paid at the regular rate or the minimum wage, whichever is greater.⁠^[10] New York City's notice of employee rights also lists 20 hours of paid prenatal leave.⁠^[25]

Privacy and retaliation. An employer may not require disclosure of confidential information about a health condition as a condition of providing sick leave or paid prenatal personal leave.⁠^[26] No employer may discharge, threaten, penalize or otherwise retaliate against an employee for requesting or using sick leave or paid prenatal leave.⁠^[27]

Bonding leave. New York Paid Family Leave includes leave to bond with a child during the first twelve months after birth, and an employee who takes it is entitled to be restored to the same or a comparable position.⁠^[28][29] The leave programs, including the federal FMLA, are compared in FMLA, Paid Family Leave and sick leave in New York.

How a request proceeds under each law

1. Tell the employer what is needed. The federal duty attaches to limitations communicated to the employer, and the State duty to known conditions.⁠^[2][13] A written request is a practical way to show what was communicated and when.
2. Discuss options. The PWFA refers to the interactive process typically used to determine an appropriate accommodation.⁠^[18] In New York City the cooperative dialogue covers the employee's needs, potential accommodations including alternatives, and the difficulties they may pose for the employer.⁠^[30]
3. Provide medical information if it is needed. Under the State law this is limited to information necessary to verify the condition or consider the accommodation.⁠^[21] For New York City, a footnote in the Commission's disability guidance says an employer may not require medical confirmation of pregnancy, childbirth or a related medical condition unless it is a pregnancy-related disability.⁠^[31]
4. Get the decision. In New York City the employer provides a written final determination.⁠^[23]

The general steps are in how to request a reasonable accommodation, and the employer's cost-and-difficulty defense is in undue hardship.

Retaliation and where to bring a claim

The PWFA prohibits discrimination against an employee who opposed a practice it makes unlawful or took part in a proceeding under it, and makes it unlawful to take adverse action against an employee for requesting or using a reasonable accommodation.⁠^[19][7] Under the State law, retaliating against a person for requesting a reasonable accommodation is an unlawful discriminatory practice, and the City law lists the same protected activity.⁠^[32][33]

PWFA claims by private-sector employees go through the EEOC charge process that Title VII uses.⁠^[19] In fiscal year 2025, 197 EEOC charges from New York State cited the PWFA.⁠^[34] State and City claims have their own agencies and time limits; see New York employment claim deadlines and EEOC, Division of Human Rights, NYC Commission or court.

What people commonly get wrong

• "Pregnancy has to be a disability to be accommodated." The federal PWFA applies whether or not the condition meets the ADA's definition of disability.⁠^[2]
• "Lactation breaks in New York are unpaid and last one year." State law provides paid 30-minute breaks for up to three years; the one-year period is the federal rule.⁠^[9][11]

Related guides: reasonable accommodation in New York, temporary injuries and short-term conditions, medical questions and exams and retaliation for taking leave.