Lactation Spaces

The Equity and Access Office (EAO) manages dedicated, private lactation rooms across NAU facilities. These spaces are not open access but require an access code to protect their availability for, and the privacy of, nursing parent employees covered under the Affordable Care Act of 2010, the PUMP Act of 2022, the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act of 2023, and student parents covered under the Title IX of the Education Amendments Act of 1972. In addition to the designated, fully compliant lactation spaces, EAO can work with individuals to identify alternative, private spaces which may be more conveniently located near work or classroom locations as part of the interactive interactive accommodation process. Individuals in need of a lactation space should submit a request form to initiate the accommodation process through the applicable link to the right.

Lactation Spaces and the Affordable Care Act

The Affordable Care Act states in part:

Employers are required to provide a reasonable amount of break time and a space to express milk as frequently as needed by the nursing mother, for up to one year following the birth of the employee’s child. The frequency of breaks needed to express breast milk as well as the duration of each break will likely vary. The space provided by the employer cannot be a bathroom, and it must be shielded from view and free from intrusion by coworkers or the public…. Employers are not required under the FLSA to compensate nursing mothers for breaks taken for the purpose of expressing milk. However, where employers already provide compensated breaks, an employee who uses that break time to express milk must be compensated in the same way that other employees are compensated for break time. In addition, the FLSA’s general requirement that the employee must be completely relieved from duty or else the time must be compensated as work time applies.

The State of Arizona does not have any additional requirements.

How to Access the Spaces

Space Access for NAU Employees and Students

If you are an employee or a student and need access to a lactation space, please complete and submit a request form utilizing the applicable link at the top of the page. The EAO will follow-up with you through a trusted system, NAUGuardian, to begin the interactive accommodation process.

The EAO manages many dedicated spaces across the NAU Flagstaff Mountain campus and space at the Phoenix North Valley campus.  If there is not a space close enough to your worksite or space is not available at the requested times, the EAO will work to identify suitable alternatives through the interactive process.

Space Access for Visitors

If you are not an employee or student and are in need of a lactation space, please utilize the visitor’s link above to submit your request. The EAO will follow-up with you on available options through a trusted system, NAUGuardian.

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