Beginning January 1, 2026, employers will be required to compensate nursing mothers during breaks taken to express breast milk. 

Under the amended statute, Illinois employers with more than five employees must provide reasonable paid break time to employees who need to express breast milk for their nursing infant child, each time the employee needs to express milk, for up to one year after the child’s birth. The break time may run concurrently with any break time already provided to the employee.

The legislation (Public Act 104-0076) amends the Nursing Mothers in the Workplace Act, originally passed in 2018, by explicitly requiring that break time for expressing breast milk be paid at the employee’s regular rate of compensation. Previously, the law only required employers to provide reasonable break time without specifying compensation requirements.

The legislation explicitly prohibits employers from requiring employees to use paid leave during the break time or reducing the employee’s compensation during the break time in any other manner. Employers may not reduce an employee’s compensation for time used for the purpose of expressing milk or nursing a baby.​​

The law includes an exception for employers who can demonstrate that providing paid break time would create an “undue hardship” as defined under Section 2-102(J) of the Illinois Human Rights Act. Under the Illinois Human Rights Act, an undue hardship is defined as one that is “prohibitively expensive or disruptive” when considering factors such as the nature and cost of the accommodation, the financial resources of the employer, the size of the business, and the impact on operations.

Research shows that workplace accommodations for breastfeeding significantly predict breastfeeding outcomes at six months postpartum, as well as breastfeeding duration up to 20 months postpartum, with important health and financial implications for families and employers. Studies indicate that breastfeeding support can reduce absenteeism and health insurance costs for employers.​

The Nursing Mothers in the Workplace Act amendment is part of a broader package of employment law changes signed by Governor Pritzker in 2025 that also includes new protections for employees with children in neonatal intensive care units, expanded military leave provisions, and enhanced wage theft enforcement.

Senate Bill 212 passed the Illinois Senate on April 9, 2025, and the Illinois House on May 21, 2025, before being sent to the governor and signed into law on August 1, 2025.