Detroit changes break policy, adds stations for nursing workers

A federal investigation has led Detroit leaders to create more lactation stations and change a break policy for nursing city workers, officials announced Tuesday.

The U.S. Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division determined the city was not complying with the Break Time for Nursing Mothers provision of the Fair Labor Standards Act, the agency said in a statement.

Investigators found a Detroit transportation employee couldn't travel to a designated lactation station, pump and store milk, clean up and return within the 30 minutes the city allows for a break.

Investigators also found a lack of adequate lactation sites for employees working across Detroit and the city failed to post posters highlighting the nursing mother provision at a  Department of Transportation worksite.

Detroit now will have five lactation stations and amended its break policy to accommodate nursing workers.