Earlier this year, New
Jersey
enacted a law to protect breastfeeding employees and require
employers to provide certain accommodations to breastfeeding
employees.
Notably, this law required reasonable accommodations as a
general matter but also noted that reasonable accommodation
“shall include reasonable break time each day to the employee and
a suitable room or other location with privacy, other than a toilet
stall, in close proximity to the work area for the employee to
express breast milk.” Employers are therefore required to
provide reasonable accommodation generally, which must include but
is not necessarily limited to this particular accommodation, unless
they can demonstrate undue hardship.
On October 29, 2018, a group of New Jersey state legislators
introduced
a bill (A-4686) to expand the scope of required accommodations
to breastfeeding employees. The bill makes four changes to
current law.
First, current law applies the accommodation obligation to an
“employee breast feeding her infant child.” A-4686 removes
the word infant, clarifying that this obligation applies to
breastfeeding beyond infancy.
Second, the bill notes that the reasonable break time
accommodation should be “for such time as the employee
desires.”
Third, the bill adds a second specific required accommodation to
employers, which would be required to provide “a modified work
schedule” to the employee.
Fourth, the bill clarifies that a restroom (as opposed to merely
a toilet stall) is not an acceptable location for an employer to
provide to an employee for the purpose of expressing breast
milk.
While the proposed language changes are short, this bill
represents a significant expansion of employers’ accommodation
obligations. We’ll keep an eye on this piece of legislation as
it moves through the legislative session and update on any new
developments.
In the meantime, New Jersey employers should review policies and
practices to make sure they incorporate the requirements of the law
enacted earlier this year.
Jeffrey Phillips phoenix 