The letter of the law may only require employers to extend breaks and access to a lactation room to eligible employees on an as needed basis, but many companies are taking a proactive approach and looking to implement policies that will boost employee retention.
According to Eileen Shue, vice president of corporate resources for the Mishawaka, Ind.-based Sterling Group, a comprehensive lactation policy could specify, for example, that:
- A breastfeeding mother will be accommodated for up to a year after the birth of the child;
- Breastfeeding mothers will be given a reasonable number of breaks of a reasonable length to express milk;
- Breaks up to 20 minutes are paid and those longer than 20 minutes will be unpaid and recorded on an employee’s timesheet;
- A small refrigerator for storing the expressed milk is available;
- Any breast milk stored in the refrigerator must be labeled and dated, and all stored milk is the responsibility of the employee (including improper storage, refrigeration and tampering);
- Products that don’t conform to storage rules may be disposed of;
- Nursing mothers with private offices that have doors that lock will be asked to use their office;
- Employees who don’t have a private office will have access to a private conference room as needed and must reserve it; and
- The private conference room will have a lock and “do not disturb” sign available.
The Department of Health and Human Services has also posted a sample policy online on its women’s health focused website. The sample policy is at: http://www.womenshealth.gov/breastfeeding/government-in-action/business-case-for-breastfeeding/policy-for-supporting-breastfeeding-employees.pdf.
We will be running a series of posts about the new lactation policy, best practices and industry responses in the next several weeks. Search for posts using the word “lactation.” Subscribers to Thompson’s FLSA library should look to their newsletters for an in depth package about the new policy, including many features that won’t appear on the blog.