Working and Pumping Mothers See Progress in Oregon, Montana and New Mexico
Laws that protect expressing breast milk in the workplace are particularly important because a significant number of mothers wean when they go back to work and do not find support for pumping. Working mothers in Oregon, Montana and New Mexico soon will join the ranks of the nearly one in four U.S. states that have workplace protections for pumping.
Yesterday the Oregon Senate passed a revised version of House Bill 2372. The House is expected to approve the minor amendments and Oregon Governor Ted Kulongoski already indicated he will sign the bill into law. The new law amends Oregon Revised Statutes section 653.077 and will likely go into effect in January 2008.
The legislation requires most employers to provide two 30-minute unpaid rest periods for pumping during an 8-hour work day. Employers are also required to provide a private location for the employee to express milk. The law does not cover employers with fewer than 25 employees, and it exempts employers if the requirements pose an “undue hardship” in light of the size, financial resources, nature or structure of the employer’s business.
This new law will be particularly powerful because it comes with a stiff penalty for violations. The Oregon Commissioner of the Bureau of Labor and Industries may assess a civil penalty of up to $1,000 for willful violations of the law.
Last week another workplace pumping measure became law in Montana when Governor Brian Schweitzer signed Senate Bill 89. Unlike the Oregon law, Montana’s workplace protections only apply to employees of public employers such as state and county governments, municipalities, and school districts and the university system. Public employers are required to provide a room or other location for pumping and allow reasonable unpaid break time unless doing so would unduly disrupt the public employer’s operations.
The broader law passed in New Mexico in March requires “an employer, including the state and its political subdivisions” to establish a clean and private place to pump and flexible break times.
It’s great to see such protections being enacted. Working and pumping mothers need and deserve all of the support they can get. That reminds me, I’m reading a newly-released book that’s a must-have for all working and pumping moms: The Milk Memos: How Real Moms Learned to Mix Business with Babies-and How You Can, Too
Sources: The Oregonian, The Reluctant Lactivist
Tags: activism, breastfeeding, brian-schweitzer, lactation, law, Montana, New-Mexico, news, oregon, pumping, ted-kulongoskiRelated Stories
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