FRIDLEY, Minn. — Minnesota's Department of Labor and Industry (DLI) is penalizing a major retail chain for deducting pay from an employee who was pumping breast milk at work.
Labor officials said an employee at the Menards in Fridley filed a complaint with the department because she believed her managers were violating state labor laws.
The DLI investigated the company and investigators agreed the company was violating state law.
According to a consent order, investigators discovered the employee's pay was deducted 103 times between December 2022 and May 2023 due to pumping breast milk at work.
The consent order states the employee was also reprimanded when she complained to management.
"In this case, the department found that once the employee did speak up that she was suspended for something unrelated to the breastfeeding. Menards disputes that," DLI Assistant Director of Labor Standards Prairie Bly said.
KARE-11 reached out to Menards for comment.
The company has not responded.
However, according to the consent order filed on December 5th, the company has agreed to pay the employee back wages and a penalty of $15,000 to the state.
The consent order states Menards must also conduct a statewide audit to see if any other stores in Minnesota are also violating state labor laws and posters must be placed inside every store in the state so employees and managers understand breastfeeding laws moving forward.
According to state law, new mothers must be allowed reasonable paid breaks during the workday to pump breast milk for their children, employers must also provide a clean and private room for mothers to pump and it can't be a bathroom.
"At the Department of Labor we believe workers should not have to choose between expressing milk for their child and getting paid or keeping their job,” Bly says.
Cherylee Sherry at the Minnesota Department of Health says managers and business owners often don't understand how difficult and stressful breastfeeding can be, and the health benefits for the mother and her children.
"Like ear infections and colds and these other kinds of things and that a mom might have to take off of work. So, this also helps the employers to be breastfeeding-friendly,” Sherry says.
DLI says over the last year they have received 327 questions and complaints about breastfeeding and pumping in the workplace.
Officials say that’s nearly twice as many inquiries as they received in 2022.
If you're an employee or a manager and you have questions state officials say don't hesitate to reach out and ask.
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