Florida Breastfeeding Laws: Public, Workplace, and Pump Coverage

Florida breastfeeding laws give you the right to nurse your child in any public or private place where you’re otherwise allowed to be, and they shield you from any criminal charge tied to that act. Layered on top are federal rules covering pumping breaks at work, insurance coverage for breast pumps, jury duty deferrals, and lactation rooms in airports and schools.

Breastfeeding in Public

Florida Statutes Section 383.015 says a mother may breastfeed her baby in any location, public or private, where she is otherwise authorized to be. Parks, restaurants, retail stores, government buildings, waiting rooms. The statute makes clear this right applies regardless of whether your breast is uncovered during or incidental to breastfeeding.¹

The state’s lewd and lascivious offenses statute contains an explicit carve-out. Section 800.04 states that a mother breastfeeding her baby “does not under any circumstance constitute a violation” of that section.² A business or individual who tries to eject you or threaten criminal consequences for nursing is on the wrong side of both statutes.

Pumping Breaks at Work

Florida does not have its own state law requiring private employers to accommodate pumping. Most Florida employees are covered instead by the federal PUMP for Nursing Mothers Act, which amended the Fair Labor Standards Act. The PUMP Act requires your employer to give you reasonable break time to express breast milk for up to one year after your child’s birth, each time you need to pump.³ Frequency and length are driven by your body, not your employer’s scheduling preferences.

Your employer must also provide a space shielded from view and free from intrusion by coworkers or the public. The space cannot be a bathroom and must be functional and available each time you need it.⁴ If the room has other uses during the day, your employer has to free it up when you need to pump.

Whether the Breaks Are Paid

Pumping breaks generally don’t have to be paid. The exception matters: if you aren’t completely relieved of your duties during the break, say you’re still monitoring equipment or taking calls, the time counts as hours worked and must be compensated.³

Small Employers

Employers with fewer than 50 employees may be excused from these requirements if compliance would impose an undue hardship. That’s a high bar. The employer must show significant difficulty or expense relative to the size, financial resources, and structure of the business.³ Mere inconvenience doesn’t meet it.

The Pregnant Workers Fairness Act

A second federal law adds to your protection. The Pregnant Workers Fairness Act treats lactation as a pregnancy-related condition entitling you to reasonable workplace accommodations from employers with 15 or more employees. Under the PWFA, your employer cannot require medical documentation before accommodating a request to pump or nurse during work hours.⁵ You end up with two overlapping sets of federal protections: the PUMP Act for break time and space, and the PWFA for broader accommodation.

If Your Employer Refuses

You have two paths for PUMP Act violations. You can file a complaint with the Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division, or you can bring a private lawsuit. Available remedies include lost wages, an equal amount in liquidated damages, compensatory damages for economic losses, and in some cases punitive damages. These apply whether or not your employer also retaliated against you.⁶

If the problem is the pumping space rather than break time, special procedural steps may apply before you can file a private lawsuit. Those extra steps don’t apply to Wage and Hour Division complaints, so that route tends to be simpler. PWFA complaints go through the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.

Insurance Coverage for Breast Pumps

Under the Affordable Care Act, most health plans must cover preventive care for women following guidelines from the Health Resources and Services Administration. Those guidelines require coverage of comprehensive lactation support, including consultation, counseling, and breastfeeding equipment and supplies. The recommended standard is coverage of a double electric breast pump; your plan should not make you try a manual pump first.⁷

Coverage applies to Marketplace plans and most employer-sponsored plans, though grandfathered plans may not comply. The statutory authority is 42 U.S.C. § 300gg-13, which requires plans to cover preventive care for women without cost-sharing.⁸ Your specific plan may have rules about timing before or after birth, rental versus purchase, and whether you need a doctor’s order, so check with your insurer before buying out of pocket.

Tax Treatment of What You Pay Yourself

If you do pay for pumps or supplies, the IRS treats them as deductible medical expenses on Schedule A if you itemize. You can only deduct the portion of total medical and dental expenses that exceeds 7.5% of your adjusted gross income, which limits the practical benefit for most families.⁹ Pre-tax dollars from a health savings account or flexible spending account are often more useful.

Jury Duty Deferral for New Mothers

Florida gives new mothers a direct path to postpone jury service. Under Section 40.013, a woman who has given birth within six months before her reporting date must be excused if she requests it. The excusal applies to that specific summons; you’re not permanently exempt.¹⁰

The same statute covers related situations. Any parent who is not employed full-time and has custody of a child under six can be excused on request, and expectant mothers can be excused as well. Submit your request to the clerk of court or the court itself and indicate which provision applies to you.¹⁰

Airports and Schools

Traveling through a Florida airport, you have a right to a lactation room past security in each terminal. Under 49 U.S.C. § 47107, any airport that receives federal development grants, which includes every major commercial airport, must provide a lactation area with a locking door, a place to sit, a table or flat surface, an electrical outlet, and a sink or sanitizing equipment. It must be accessible to people with disabilities and cannot be in a restroom.¹¹ If you can’t find it, ask airport staff.

At schools and universities that receive federal funding, Title IX regulations require accommodation. Under 34 CFR 106.57, institutions must give employees reasonable break time to express milk or breastfeed, along with a dedicated lactation space that is clean, shielded from view, free from intrusion, and not a bathroom.¹² The 2022 Title IX final rule extended protections to students, prohibiting discrimination based on lactation and requiring reasonable modifications for students who are breastfeeding or pumping. These federal protections stack on top of your rights under Florida law.

1
Florida Senate. Florida Code 383.015 – Breastfeeding
2
Online Sunshine. Florida Code 800.04 – Lewd or Lascivious Offenses Committed Upon or in the Presence of Persons Less Than 16 Years of Age
3
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. United States Code Title 29 Section 218d – Breastfeeding Accommodations in the Workplace
4
U.S. Department of Labor. FLSA Protections to Pump at Work
5
U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. What You Should Know About the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act
6
U.S. Department of Labor. Fact Sheet 73 – FLSA Protections for Employees to Pump Breast Milk at Work
7
Health Resources and Services Administration. Women’s Preventive Services Guidelines
8
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. United States Code Title 42 Section 300gg-13 – Coverage of Preventive Health Services
9
Internal Revenue Service. Publication 502 – Medical and Dental Expenses
10
Online Sunshine. Florida Code 40.013 – Persons Disqualified or Excused from Jury Service
11
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. United States Code Title 49 Section 47107 – Project Grant Application Approval Conditioned on Assurances About Airport Operations
12
eCFR. Title 34 CFR Section 106.57 – Employment