SB 493

This bill requires an employer, including the state, to provide the following for

an employee who is breast-feeding the employee's child under one year of age: 1) a

reasonable break time to express breast milk for the child; 2) a private place, other

than a bathroom, for the employee to express breast milk; and 3) access to an

electrical outlet, running water, and a refrigerator for the storage of breast milk. The

bill permits that break time to be unpaid but requires an employer to treat such

unpaid break time as paid work time for purposes of determining eligibility for

health care coverage.

The federal Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) requires an employer engaged in

interstate commerce, which is generally defined as an employer having an annual

dollar volume of sales of $500,000 or more, to provide the following: 1) a reasonable

break time for an employee to express breast milk for the employee's nursing child

for one year after the child's birth each time the employee needs to express that milk;

and 2) a place, other than a bathroom, that 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 addition, the FLSA permits that break time to be unpaid and

provides that an employer that employs fewer than 50 employees is not subject to

those requirements if those requirements would impose an undue hardship by

causing the employer significant difficulty or expense when considered in relation

to the size, financial resources, nature, or structure of the employer's business.

This bill codifies into the laws of this state the requirements of the FLSA with

respect to reasonable break time for employees to express breast milk for their

children under one year of age, applying those requirements to all employers,

including the state, employing at least one individual. In addition, the bill 1)

requires an employer to provide access to an electrical outlet, running water, and a

refrigerator for the storage of breast milk; and 2) provides that if an employee's

eligibility for an employer contribution towards the employee's health care coverage

is dependent on the number of hours that the employee works, the employer must

treat any unpaid break time taken by the employee to express breast milk as paid

work time for purposes of determining that eligibility.