Wet Set
Gazette: May 2004
Breastfeeding Support in the Workplace
Knowing Your Rights and Your Employer’s Responsibilities
By Grace Adams, Breastfeeding Task Force of Greater Los Angeles
You’ve gotten breastfeeding off to a good start. Congratulations!
Breastfeeding does not need to end when you return to work. Mothers
have been combining breastfeeding and child rearing with employment
from the dawn of time. Today’s work environment often means that you
have to spend time separated from your baby. You are wondering what
your rights are about expressing your milk if you are away from your
baby at work.
In the State of California, the Lactation Accommodation Law,
Assembly Bill 1025 (California Labor Code: Ch. 3.8, Section 1030,
Part 3 of Division 2) took effect on January 1, 2002. It requires
employers to provide a reasonable amount of break time and to make a
reasonable effort to provide the use of a room, or location, other
than a toilet stall for breastfeeding employees to express breast
milk during the workday.
If you are returning to work and continue to breastfeed, Assembly
Bill 1025 gives you the right have these accommodations at work.
There are three essential requirements to ensure that employees can
successfully combine work and breastfeeding:
• Sufficient break time to express breastmilk, or flexible work
hours
• Comfortable, clean space for expressing and storing breastmilk or
nearby or on-site child care so that employees can breastfeed on
break and at lunch
• "Family-friendly"
workplace policies; positive attitudes towards breastfeeding by
educating workers and management about the benefits of breastfeeding
and the risks of not breastfeeding
Companies like Mattel, Home Depot and the Los Angeles Department of
Water and Power (DWP) lead the way in implementing breastfeeding
support programs.
The Lactation Room at Mattel's corporate offices in El Segundo was
established almost 15 years ago to assist working mothers who are
returning to work after maternity leave. A second Lactation Room was
added at Mattel's Design Center, also located in El Segundo, a few
years later. The Lactation Rooms are very popular with nursing
mothers as they are a private place to bond with other working
mothers, as well as to share stories and suggestions. Lactation
Rooms include: storage lockers with combinations, tables and
telephones, refrigerator with freezer, sink with 180-degree hot
water for washing, bulletin board for pictures and announcements,
magazines such as Parenting and Working Mother and a comfortable
environment. The Lactation Room is also stocked with a variety of
brochures regarding newborns, breastfeeding and other local
resources. Mothers requesting to use the Lactation Rooms check out a
key and, if lockers are available, are assigned a locker. The rooms
accommodate approximately 50 working mothers a year. Mattel’s
support for its breastfeeding in the workplace combined with its
Child Development Center where employees have access to day care
facilities on-site has gained the company a solid reputation as one
of the best places for mothers to work.
The Los Angeles Department of Water and Power manages a full service
Family Care Program, including pre and post natal education, 24/7
lactation consulting and support, pump rooms, breastfeeding
paraphernalia, father support programs and more. The LA DWP believes
in supporting its employees and helping them through an important
milestone in its employees’ family life by providing them these
types of programs. The results have been phenomenal. In a recent
two-year study conducted at the organization, 93% of formula-fed
infants fell ill versus only 59% of breastfed infants. In addition,
the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power also reported lower
absence rates among breastfeeding mothers, which have translated
into substantial savings to the organization.
The risks of not being breastfed include ear infections, diarrhea,
allergy, obesity and overweight, type 1 diabetes. The risks of not
breastfeeding to mothers include breast cancer and osteoporosis. The
risks of babies not breastfeeding to employers include higher health
care costs, increased parental absenteeism and turnover. And now
with the Lactation Accommodation Law, employers who do not comply
risk a civil penalty of $100.. Employers need to know that when the
babies of their employees are not breastfed it increases the costs
of doing business.
Businesses need to ensure that they provide a work environment that
helps support their employees to balance the demands of work and
home. In Los Angeles County, more than 82% of mothers initiate
breastfeeding, 49% of them continue breastfeeding at 6 months, and
29% of them are still breastfeeding at 12 the recommended age of 1
year. The number of corporate lactation support programs continues
to grow as employers recognize the benefits of reduced health care
costs, absenteeism, increased retention, enhanced employee
incentives and benefits, improved employee morale and a better
corporate image.
Employers who accommodate their breastfeeding employees are
recognized with the Family Promotion Award by the Breastfeeding Task
Force of Greater Los Angeles. You can nominate your employer for
this award by completing the application found at
www.breastfeedingworks.org.
For more information and assistance, contact the Breastfeeding Task
Force of Greater Los Angeles at (213) 596-5776 or visit
www.breastfeedla.org for
more resources and information. The Breastfeeding Task Force of
Greater Los Angeles is a non-profit organization dedicated to
educating the public about breastfeeding support and decreasing the
societal barriers to breastfeeding.
Babies
were born to be breastfed!
