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Colorado became the 16th state in the union to guarantee women the right to breastfeed at work today as the Workplace Accommodations for Nursing Mothers Act went into effect.
“With healthier infants, fewer working mothers will miss work to stay home with a sick child. This is the right thing for moms, for healthy babies and for a productive workplace,” Rep. Andy Kerr, D-Lakewood, and the bill's sponsor, said in a press release issued by the House Democratic Caucus. “Businesses recognize the value of healthy children and how that increases the productivity and morale of working mothers.”
Sen. Dan Gibbs, D-Silverthorne, was the Senate sponsor of the bill.
The new law will require Colorado employers to provide reasonable break time, to provide private space for mothers to express breast milk at work, and to not discriminate against them for doing so.
A new website with information for employers interested in learning how to comply with the new law has been set up.
Showing posts with label breastfeeding. Show all posts
Showing posts with label breastfeeding. Show all posts
Thursday, August 7, 2008
Tuesday, March 25, 2008
Nursing Mothers Bill Keeps Moving
A bill that would require Colorado employers to accommodate nursing mothers' need to breastfeed their infants or pump milk gained final approval in the Senate Monday and now heads to Gov. Bill Ritter.
HB 1276 provides that employers have to give female employees reasonable amounts of unpaid break time and/or paid breaks and/or mealtime in order to allow breastfeeding or pumping for up to two years after the employee's child is born.
The measure also requires employers to make "reasonable efforts" to provide privacy to the employee by means of a separate room and not a toilet stall.
The bill specifies that an employer does not have to take on any "undue hardship" to comply with the law. That phrase is has a meaning that is dependent on the financial condition and size of a business, the nature of its operations, and considerations of public safety.
The proposed "Workplace Accommodations for Nursing Mothers Act" was sponsored in the House by Rep. Andy Kerr, D-Lakewood, and in the Senate by Sen. Dan Gibbs, D-Silverthorne.
According to the National Conference of State Legislatures, 14 other states have laws that touch on the right of female employees to expel milk at work.
HB 1276 provides that employers have to give female employees reasonable amounts of unpaid break time and/or paid breaks and/or mealtime in order to allow breastfeeding or pumping for up to two years after the employee's child is born.
The measure also requires employers to make "reasonable efforts" to provide privacy to the employee by means of a separate room and not a toilet stall.
The bill specifies that an employer does not have to take on any "undue hardship" to comply with the law. That phrase is has a meaning that is dependent on the financial condition and size of a business, the nature of its operations, and considerations of public safety.
The proposed "Workplace Accommodations for Nursing Mothers Act" was sponsored in the House by Rep. Andy Kerr, D-Lakewood, and in the Senate by Sen. Dan Gibbs, D-Silverthorne.
According to the National Conference of State Legislatures, 14 other states have laws that touch on the right of female employees to expel milk at work.
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