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Evie's Desk: Breastfeeding Awareness Month

August 18, 2008
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August is breastfeeding awareness month and reflecting on a recent article in the Sacramento Bee, I realized how far society has come since 2001 to actually honor breastfeeding as a woman's right. The article highlights a $4,000 citation given to a private security firm based in Santa Clara for violating a state law that requires employers to reasonably accommodate employees who are breastfeeding.

Issued by the California Labor Commission, the citation was given after the Commission received a tip from a female employee that the firm required her to express breast milk in a room monitored by security cameras and didn't allow her the time she needed to complete pumping. The Labor Commission said that this was the first citation they have issued since the law passed in 2001.

I encourage all breastfeeding mothers and providers to take note of this law and be sure to know their rights. For your reference I have listed some specific parts of the Lactation Accommodation Law (Assembly Bill 1025 - Legal Requirement) below:

  • 1030. Every employer, including the state and any political subdivision, shall provide a reasonable amount of break time to accommodate an employee desiring to express breast milk for the employee's infant child. The break time shall, if possible, run concurrently with any break time already provided to the employee. Break time for an employee that does not run concurrently with the rest time authorized for the employee by the applicable wage order of the Industrial Welfare Commission shall be unpaid.
  • 1032. An employer is not required to provide break time under this chapter if to do so would seriously disrupt the operations of the employer.
  • 1033. (a) An employer who violates any provision of this chapter shall be subject to civil penalty in the amount of one hundred dollars ($100) for each violation. (b) If, upon inspection or investigation, the Labor Commissioner determines that a violation of this chapter has occurred, the Labor Commissioner may issue a citation.

Also, the First 5 LA funded LA Best Babies Network has a policy brief available for download titled Breastfeeding-Friendly Workplace Policies, and can be used to inform Human Resources Departments of the Law and ways to accommodate a lactating mother. Click here to download the report.

Evelyn V. Martinez
Executive Director
First 5 LA

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