Pumping at Work

There are two sets of law that apply to this situation - federal and California.  The Affordable Care Act ("ObamaCare") amended federal wage and hour laws to require employers to provide reasonable, unpaid lactation breaks for new mothers for up to 1 year after the birth of the child. Employers with fewer than 50 employees are not required to accommodate if doing so would impose an "undue hardship" on the employer, meaning it would be difficult or costly given the employer's size, facilities, and other available resources. California law is much broader in terms of rights.  In 2002, the Legislature made it mandatory that all employers regardless of size accommodate mothers with unpaid breaks to express milk and other provisions. (See, Cal. Labor Code 1030, 1031.)  An employer is not required to provide the breaks if it would "seriously disrupt" the employer's business, but this is a more difficult standard to meet than "undue hardship" under federal law.  (Labor Code 1032.) Labor Code 1033 provides for civil penalties of $100 per violation. California law does not impose time limitations, as does federal law. These statutes collectively provide rules stating which employers are covered (all employers), expressing milk v. breastfeeding at work (latter is not covered unless the employer has child care facilities at work), location (must provide private location, not toilet stall), the "serious disruption" exception, and civil penalties for violations.  You can read more here from Nolo.com. It sounds to me like your employer is treading on thin ice already, and it would be illegal for your employer to deny you the right to express breast milk after the 1 year period, as that time limitation only applies under federal law, not California law.