Bill Text: NY S04844 | 2021-2022 | General Assembly | Amended
NOTE: There are more recent revisions of this legislation. Read Latest Draft
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
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--A 2021-2022 Regular Sessions IN SENATE February 16, 2021 ___________ Introduced by Sen. BIAGGI -- 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 AN ACT to amend the labor law, in relation to expanding the rights of nursing mothers 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 to express breast milk. 1. An 4 employer shall provide reasonable unpaid break time or permit an employ- 5 ee to use paid break time or meal time [each day] to allow an employee 6 to express breast milk for her nursing child each time such employee has 7 reasonable need to express breast milk for up to three years following 8 child birth. [The employer shall make reasonable efforts to provide a9room or other location, in close proximity to the work area, where an10employee can express milk in privacy.] No employer shall discriminate in 11 any way against an employee who chooses to express breast milk in the 12 work place. 13 2. (a) An employer shall designate a room or other location which 14 shall be made available for use by such employee to express breast milk 15 in privacy and establish a schedule to accommodate the needs of multiple 16 employees needing access thereto. The room or location provided by the 17 employer for this purpose shall not be a restroom or toilet stall. 18 Employers shall provide notice to all employees as soon as practicable 19 when such room or other location has been designated for use by employ- 20 ees to express breast milk. 21 (b) An employer who is unable to provide a dedicated lactation room or 22 other location may allow the use of a vacant office or other available 23 room on a temporary basis for the expression of breast milk, provided EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets [] is old law to be omitted. LBD02122-02-1S. 4844--A 2 1 the room is not accessible to the public or other employees while the 2 nursing employee is using the room for expression purposes. 3 (c) Such room or other location shall be a place, other than a rest- 4 room that is: (i) in close proximity to the work area; (ii) well lit 5 either through natural or artificial light, provided that if the room 6 has a window it shall be covered with a curtain, blind, or other cover- 7 ing to ensure privacy and that the nursing mother is shielded from view; 8 and (iii) free from intrusion from other persons in the workplace or the 9 public. Such room or other location shall contain, at minimum, a chair 10 and a small table, a desk, counter, or other flat service, nearby access 11 to clean, running water and, if the workplace is supplied with electric- 12 ity, an electrical outlet. If the workplace has access to refrigeration, 13 the employer shall extend such access to refrigeration for the purposes 14 of storing the expressed milk, provided that an employer is not respon- 15 sible for ensuring the safekeeping of expressed milk stored in any 16 refrigerator on its premises. 17 (d) An employer shall maintain the cleanliness of the room or location 18 set aside for the use of employees expressing breast milk at work. 19 3. Where compliance with the requirements of subdivision two of this 20 section is impracticable because it would impose an undue hardship on 21 the employer by causing significant difficulty or expense when consid- 22 ered in relation to the size, financial resources, nature, or structure 23 of the employer's business, such employer shall make reasonable efforts 24 to provide a room or other location, in close proximity to the work 25 area, where an employee can express breast milk in privacy. Provided, 26 however, nothing in this subdivision shall otherwise exempt an employer 27 from the requirements of subdivision one of this section. 28 4. The commissioner shall develop and implement a written policy 29 regarding the rights of nursing mothers to express breast milk in the 30 workplace pursuant to the provisions of this section. Employers shall 31 provide such written policy to employees returning to work following the 32 birth of a child. Such policy shall be provided individually to affected 33 employees and the information contained in such policy shall also be 34 available through publication of such policy in an employee handbook, if 35 applicable, or otherwise through the posting of the policy in a clear 36 and conspicuous location. 37 § 2. This act shall take effect on the one hundred eightieth day after 38 it shall have become a law.
