Bill Text: NY S04844 | 2021-2022 | General Assembly | Amended
Bill Title: Expands the rights of nursing employees to express breast milk.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 4-0)
Status: (Passed) 2022-12-09 - SIGNED CHAP.672 [S04844 Detail]
Download: New_York-2021-S04844-Amended.html
STATE OF NEW YORK ________________________________________________________________________ 4844--B 2021-2022 Regular Sessions IN SENATE February 16, 2021 ___________ Introduced by Sens. BIAGGI, BROUK, GOUNARDES, MANNION -- read twice and ordered printed, and when printed to be committed to the Committee on Labor -- committee discharged, bill amended, ordered reprinted as amended and recommitted to said committee -- recommitted to the Committee on Labor in accordance with Senate Rule 6, sec. 8 -- commit- tee discharged, bill amended, ordered reprinted as amended and recom- mitted to said committee AN ACT to amend the labor law, in relation to expanding the rights of nursing employees to express breast milk The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem- bly, do enact as follows: 1 Section 1. Section 206-c of the labor law, as added by chapter 574 of 2 the laws of 2007, is amended to read as follows: 3 § 206-c. Right of nursing [mothers] employees to express breast milk. 4 1. An employer shall provide reasonable unpaid break time or permit an 5 employee to use paid break time or meal time [each day] to allow an 6 employee to express breast milk for her nursing child each time such 7 employee has reasonable need to express breast milk for up to three 8 years following child birth. [The employer shall make reasonable efforts9to provide a room or other location, in close proximity to the work10area, where an employee can express milk in privacy.] No employer shall 11 discriminate in any way against an employee who chooses to express 12 breast milk in the work place. 13 2. (a) Upon request of an employee who chooses to express breast milk 14 in the workplace, an employer shall designate a room or other location 15 which shall be made available for use by such employee to express breast 16 milk. Such room or other location shall be a place that is: (i) in close 17 proximity to the work area; (ii) well lit; (iii) shielded from view; and 18 (iv) free from intrusion from other persons in the workplace or the 19 public. Such room or other location shall provide, at minimum, a chair, 20 a working surface, nearby access to clean running water and, if the EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets [] is old law to be omitted. LBD02122-05-2S. 4844--B 2 1 workplace is supplied with electricity, an electrical outlet. The room 2 or location provided by the employer for this purpose shall not be a 3 restroom or toilet stall. 4 (b) If the sole purpose or function of such room or other location is 5 not dedicated for use by employees to express breast milk, such room or 6 other location shall be made available to such an employee when needed 7 and shall not be used for any other purpose or function while in use by 8 such employee. Employers shall provide notice to all employees as soon 9 as practicable when such room or other location has been designated for 10 use by employees to express breast milk. 11 (c) Where compliance with the requirements of paragraphs (a) or (b) of 12 this subdivision is impracticable because it would impose an undue hard- 13 ship on the employer by causing significant difficulty or expense when 14 considered in relation to the size, financial resources, nature, or 15 structure of the employer's business, such employer shall make reason- 16 able efforts to provide a room or other location, other than a restroom 17 or toilet stall, that is in close proximity to the work area where an 18 employee can express breast milk in privacy. Provided, however, noth- 19 ing in this subdivision shall otherwise exempt an employer from the 20 requirements of subdivision one of this section. 21 (d) If the workplace has access to refrigeration, the employer shall 22 extend such access to refrigeration for the purposes of storing the 23 expressed milk. 24 3. The commissioner shall develop and implement a written policy 25 regarding the rights of nursing employees to express breast milk in the 26 workplace pursuant to the provisions of this section. Employers shall 27 provide such written policy to each employee upon hire and annually 28 thereafter, and to employees upon returning to work following the birth 29 of a child. Such policy shall: 30 (a) Inform employees of their rights pursuant to this section; 31 (b) Specify the means by which a request may be submitted to the 32 employer for a room or other location for use by employees to express 33 breast milk; and 34 (c) Require the employer to respond to such request within a reason- 35 able timeframe, but not to exceed five business days. 36 4. No employer or their agent, or the officer or agent of any corpo- 37 ration, partnership, or limited liability company, or any other person, 38 shall discharge, threaten, penalize, or in any other manner discriminate 39 or retaliate against any employee because such employee has exercised 40 their rights afforded under this section. 41 § 2. This act shall take effect on the one hundred eightieth day after 42 it shall have become a law.