Even small businesses required to accommodate breastfeeding employees

by: desmoinesdem

Fri Aug 13, 2010 at 08:05:05 AM CDT

Employers are required to provide "reasonable break time for an employee to express breast milk for her nursing child for 1 year after the child's birth each time such employee has need to express the milk."  Employers are also required to provide "a place, other than a bathroom, that is shielded from view and free from intrusion from coworkers and the public, which may be used by an employee to express breast milk."

The regulation is broader than early reports suggested, according to Rachel Scott, who heads the Iowa Department of Human Rights' Commission on the Status of Women:

Scott says they initially thought the law only applied to employers with 50 or more employees, but the guidelines recently released say the law applies to all employers - and those with under 50 employees can apply for an "undue hardship" exception. Scott says those seeking an exception will have to prove that compliance would be a problem.

"My understanding is it's a difficult standard to prove, but it would be based upon the expense or difficulty of making an accommodation based on the nature and size of the business," Scott explained.

Having the new rule cover all businesses except those that receive an exemption will help many nursing mothers. Most people work for businesses that have fewer than 50 employees. Women make up an estimated 54 percent of the workforce in Iowa, and breastfeeding rates in our state are currently below the national average.

Supporting women who need to express milk at work benefits employers as well as mothers and babies in many ways. The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services has many resources available "to help employers provide worksite lactation support" and "to educate employers about the value of supporting breastfeeding employees in the workplace." The Iowa Breastfeeding Coalition is offering grants of up to $500 for eight businesses seeking to create or improve worksite lactation initiatives. Applications are due August 20; the coalition's website has more details about the grant and the selection process.

Earlier this year, the Iowa Senate approved a bill on workplace accommodation of breastfeeding, but the measure died in the Iowa House in the closing days of the shortened legislative session. That bill's provisions were similar to the requirements spelled out in the new federal regulation ("reasonable efforts to provide a place, other than a toilet stall, which is shielded from view and free from intrusion from coworkers and the public, that may be used by an employee to express breast milk in privacy"). The Department of Labor's new rule on workplace accommodation of breastfeeding "does not preempt State laws that provide greater protections to employees (for example, providing compensated break time, providing break time for exempt employees, or providing break time beyond 1 year after the child's birth)." I doubt Iowa legislators would approve additional protections beyond the new federal rule, however.