When I was working my first job after college (in other words, I was in my young 20’s), there was a mom who had just had her second baby. She had gone back to work a mere six weeks after her baby was born, and she was breastfeeding. I probably would’ve never paid much attention to this, except for the fact that we had one bathroom in the office, and it seemed as if every time I had to use it she was in there pumping. At the time, it was an annoyance. Looking back now, after I’ve had two children that I breastfed, I can’t believe she stuck to it. I think there may have been five females in the entire office; this, coupled with the fact that we were in a male dominated industry that was full of sexism, I applaud her for sticking to it. And I won’t even get into the hassle of pumping–the act itself requires complete dedication.
So when I read that Obama’s new health reform gives breastfeeding moms the right to take a pumping break in a private place (bathrooms don’t count) my thoughts instantly go back to my old co-worker and how she would’ve benefited: 1) It wouldn’t have been a problem for her to take those pumping breaks and 2) she wouldn’t have to do it sitting on a lidless toilet while having others impatiently banging on the door. USA Today reports on a “Fact Sheet” about the new pumping laws that was released by the U.S. Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division earlier this month:
•Employers must provide “reasonable break time” for an employee to express breast milk until her nursing child turns 1. Advocates say nursing mothers need about a half-hour break for every four hours worked.
•Employers must be flexible as far as the timing and length of breaks needed by nursing mothers to express milk.
•Although a bathroom is not a permissible space, employers don’t need a dedicated lactation center, as long as a suitable temporary space is available when needed by a nursing mother.
•Companies with fewer than 50 workers don’t have to give breast-feeding breaks if they can show that doing so would impose an “undue hardship.”
The legislation covers only women who are paid an hourly wage, not a salary, although some state laws cover both. Kelly Kolb, a labor and employment lawyer in Miami says, “In our mind, there’s no principled reason to treat hourly and exempt (salaried) employees differently with respect to this.” And to that, I have to agree.
New Health Reform Gives Breastfeeding Moms a Break
When I was working my first job after college (in other words, I was in my young 20’s), there was a mom who had just had her second baby. She had gone back to work a mere six weeks after her baby was born, and she was breastfeeding. I probably would’ve never paid much attention to this, except for the fact that we had one bathroom in the office, and it seemed as if every time I had to use it she was in there pumping. At the time, it was an annoyance. Looking back now, after I’ve had two children that I breastfed, I can’t believe she stuck to it. I think there may have been five females in the entire office; this, coupled with the fact that we were in a male dominated industry that was full of sexism, I applaud her for sticking to it. And I won’t even get into the hassle of pumping–the act itself requires complete dedication.
So when I read that Obama’s new health reform gives breastfeeding moms the right to take a pumping break in a private place (bathrooms don’t count) my thoughts instantly go back to my old co-worker and how she would’ve benefited: 1) It wouldn’t have been a problem for her to take those pumping breaks and 2) she wouldn’t have to do it sitting on a lidless toilet while having others impatiently banging on the door. USA Today reports on a “Fact Sheet” about the new pumping laws that was released by the U.S. Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division earlier this month:
•Employers must provide “reasonable break time” for an employee to express breast milk until her nursing child turns 1. Advocates say nursing mothers need about a half-hour break for every four hours worked.
•Employers must be flexible as far as the timing and length of breaks needed by nursing mothers to express milk.
•Although a bathroom is not a permissible space, employers don’t need a dedicated lactation center, as long as a suitable temporary space is available when needed by a nursing mother.
•Companies with fewer than 50 workers don’t have to give breast-feeding breaks if they can show that doing so would impose an “undue hardship.”
The legislation covers only women who are paid an hourly wage, not a salary, although some state laws cover both. Kelly Kolb, a labor and employment lawyer in Miami says, “In our mind, there’s no principled reason to treat hourly and exempt (salaried) employees differently with respect to this.” And to that, I have to agree.