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breastfeeding accommodation requirements only for hourly employees. The PUMP Act expands that protection to salaried employees.

Mamava estimates that the law will extend breastfeeding rights to about 9 million workers, giving them standing to sue employers who don’t comply. Mayer describes it as a tipping point for the lactation pod market.

“We think it is a big development for the company,” she said.

The PUMP Act applies to all U.S. businesses, with a potential exemption for businesses with fewer than 50 employees if the business can demonstrate that compliance would impose an “undue hardship,” according to the U.S. Department of Labor. Non-exempt business are required to provide break time and a private space (not a bathroom) where an employee can express milk for a nursing child up to one year after birth.

Businesses can build or create their own space, but Mamava provides a turn-key option that is quicker and likely less expensive.

“As a business, we have planned wisely to meet public policy with the infrastructure that will allow businesses to affordably comply with the law,” Mayer said. “The momentum of the PUMP Act passage enables us to accomplish our mission to support, celebrate and normalize breastfeeding for parents in the U.S.”

Mamava is seeing interest from around the country from businesses and organizations that will be affected by the new federal requirements. Earlier this month, about 400 people attended a webinar the company hosted called “Unpacking the PUMP Act: What Employers Need to Know.”

“We’ve been working in anticipation of this passing for a while,” Mayer said. “We are poised to be able to meet the (demand).”

The law doesn’t affect Vermont employers because Vermont is one of several states with workplace breastfeeding protections that go further than federal law. For example, Vermont law provides workplace breastfeeding rights for up to three years after the birth of a child.