New Illinois law says bosses must pay nursing workers during pump breaks

New law took effect Jan. 1

Illinois started the new year with a bigger commitment to working parents.

As of Jan. 1, 2026, employers with more than five workers must pay nursing employees during breaks they use to pump breast milk.

Gov. J.B. Pritzker signed Public Act 104-0076 back in August 2025, and it changes the state’s Nursing Mothers in the Workplace Act. The law covers the first year after a child’s birth.

Workers keep full pay while pumping

The rules are straightforward. Employers must give nursing workers a reasonable amount of paid break time each time they need to pump. That time can overlap with breaks the employer already offers.

But here’s the part that matters most: employers can’t force workers to use vacation days, sick time, or any other paid leave to cover pumping breaks.

They also can’t cut pay in any other way for time spent expressing milk.

Illinois spent years sorting this out

This law didn’t come out of nowhere. Illinois first passed the Nursing Mothers in the Workplace Act back in 2001, but it only gave workers unpaid break time.

In 2018, then-Gov. Bruce Rauner signed changes that removed the word “unpaid” and said employers couldn’t reduce pay for pumping time. The problem?

That language left a gray area about whether breaks actually had to be paid. The 2026 update clears that up by spelling out that workers get their regular rate.

Lawmakers changed the bill before passing it

The original version of Senate Bill 212 looked different from what passed. Lawmakers first proposed a flat 30-minute paid break for pumping.

The final version dropped that fixed time and stuck with the existing “reasonable break time” standard. The law doesn’t define what “reasonable” means, so it depends on what each worker needs.

Breaks come as often as necessary, not on a set schedule.

Employers can push back in limited cases

There is one way an employer can say no: by proving the break would cause an “undue hardship.”

That term comes from the Illinois Human Rights Act, and it means the cost or disruption would be too high for the business to handle. The law looks at things like the employer’s size and financial resources.

The key detail? The employer has to prove the hardship, not the worker.

That puts the burden squarely on the business.

A private space must be available

Paid time is only part of the picture. Employers also have to make a reasonable effort to provide a private room or space for pumping.

It has to be close to the worker’s area, and it can’t be a bathroom stall. The space must be shielded from coworkers and the public.

This rule actually goes back to the original 2001 law, so it’s not new. But combined with paid breaks, workers now have stronger protections on both fronts.

Federal law doesn’t go this far

The federal PUMP for Nursing Mothers Act kicked in back in December 2022.

It covers nearly all workers for one year after birth and requires a private, non-bathroom space for pumping. But there’s a big gap: federal law doesn’t require employers to pay for that break time.

Illinois now goes beyond the federal standard by making compensation mandatory. That difference could matter a lot for workers who can’t afford to lose pay during the workday.

A handful of states also require paid breaks

Illinois isn’t alone, but the club is still small. Georgia, New York, and Minnesota also require paid nursing breaks.

New York stands out with 30 minutes of paid break time per pumping session for up to three years. Washington state added paid lactation break protections that also took effect in 2026.

Most other states either leave pumping breaks unpaid or don’t address the question at all. The trend is moving toward pay, but most of the country hasn’t caught up yet.

Pritzker signed several workplace bills at once

The nursing break law was part of a bigger wave. In August 2025, Pritzker signed several employment bills into law.

Among them: job-protected leave for parents whose babies are in neonatal intensive care, expanded military leave for funeral honor details, and new limits on how employers can use artificial intelligence in hiring.

A separate law also locked certain worker protections at the federal level as of April 2025 to guard against future rollbacks.

Workers have clear rights under the law

If you’re a nursing employee in Illinois, here’s what this means for you. You don’t need to clock out or lose pay when you pump at work.

No one can force you to burn your PTO or sick days for it.

You’re covered for up to one year after giving birth, and you can take breaks as often as you need them. If your employer refuses to follow the law, you may have legal options under the Act.

Employers face a compliance checklist

Businesses need to get ahead of this. That means updating workplace policies and employee handbooks, adjusting timekeeping systems to track and pay for pumping breaks, and training managers and HR staff on the new rules.

A compliant private space has to be ready.

Any employer planning to claim undue hardship should document it carefully, because the law puts the burden of proof on the company, not the worker.

More states are moving in this direction

More than half of all states now have some form of workplace lactation protection beyond federal law. The push toward paid breaks has picked up in recent years.

Before 2024, only Georgia, Illinois, and Minnesota had paid break rules on the books, though Illinois was the ambiguous one. New York joined in June 2024, and Washington followed in 2026.

Advocates say paid breaks help working parents avoid skipping pumping sessions or rushing back to work too early.

This article was created with AI assistance and human editing.

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