San Francisco is trying to solve a significant problem for breastfeeding mothers who work in the city.
Some women have to walk blocks to find a safe place to pump breast milk or breastfeed their babies. But two San Francisco supervisors want to change that. They want to make sure breastfeeding moms have a safe place to feed or pump at work.
The city of San Francisco has had this requirement in place at City Hall for a year. Now, supervisors say they want every worker in San Francisco to have the same opportunity.
"The immunity that you're able to pass on to your children, less asthma and allergies — but more so the bonding,” said Andrea Willcox, a San Francisco resident who is currently breastfeeding. "It's really important to kind of normalize it and just make it easier.”
Some mothers want more privacy and more friendly policies so they can pump breast milk comfortably at work.
Supervisors Malia Cohen and Katy Tang have spearheaded efforts to require employers across the city to provide lactation rooms at work.
"All employers must have a "lactation in the workplace policy,” Tang said.
Local
Tang presented a proposal at the supervisors' weekly meeting Tuesday that would force employers to give moms a reasonable amount of time to pump milk and create basic standards for those lactation rooms.
Although there are already several federal and state laws that protect an employee's rights to pump in the workplace, the Lactation in the Workplace ordinance requires a workplace lactation policy that allows employees a process to request lactation accommodations as well as requiring new construction and renovations for lactation facilities.
“New mothers who want to return to work face so many barriers,” said Tang. “Although there are existing lactation laws, they do not provide minimum standards, such as requiring a place to sit or an electrical outlet.”
According to the California Department of Public Health, not all mothers have equal access to workplace breastfeeding support. In fact, only about half of moms have breastfeeding support in the workplace, and mothers with lower household incomes are less likely to have workplace breastfeeding support than moms with higher incomes.
“By incorporating the lactation accommodation process into the hiring and leave process, it takes the guesswork out of the equation for both the employee and the employer,” said Julia Parish, attorney with the Work and Family Program at Legal Aid at Work. “There is now a formal way to request accommodations and more guidance for employers on what makes a suitable and comfortable lactation space.
The San Francisco Chamber of Commerce is concerned with the costs to business but is not necessarily opposed to the proposed rules.
A spokeswoman for the chamber said they would work with Tang to find a solution that will help ensure that small businesses aren’t set up to fail.
The Lactation in the Workplace ordinance will be assigned to a Board of Supervisors committee and then be voted on by the board in the coming months
.@SupervisorTang & @MaliaCohen want new rules and rooms to benefit all #breastfeeding #moms at work in SFO
On @nbcbayarea 5 and 6 pic.twitter.com/dYhs29QDkF — Thom Jensen (@ThomNBCBayArea) March 8, 2017
.@SupervisorTang & @MaliaCohen want new rules and rooms to benefit all #breastfeeding #moms at work in SFO
On @nbcbayarea 5 and 6 pic.twitter.com/dYhs29QDkF — Thom Jensen (@ThomNBCBayArea) March 8, 2017
