HF 2274 (LSB 5574YH (3) 83)

HOUSE FILE 2274

BY  ABDUL-SAMAD and WILLEMS

A BILL FOR

An Act concerning workplace accommodations for employees who express breast milk.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF IOWA:

    Section 1.  NEW SECTION.  91F.1  Short title.

   This chapter shall be known and may be cited as the “Family Friendly Workplace Act”.
    Sec. 2.  NEW SECTION.  91F.2  Definitions.
   1.  “Employer” means a person engaged in a business who has one or more employees and also includes the state of Iowa, a department or agency thereof, and any political subdivision of the state.
   2.  “Reasonable efforts” means any effort that would not impose an undue hardship on the operation of the employer’s business.
   3.  “Undue hardship” means any action that requires significant difficulty or expense when considered in relation to factors such as the size of the business, the financial resources of the business, or the nature and the structure of its operation.
    Sec. 3.  NEW SECTION.  91F.3  Right to express breast milk in workplace —— private location.
   1.  An employer shall provide reasonable unpaid break time or permit an employee to use paid break time, meal time, or both, each day, to allow the employee to express breast milk for the employee’s nursing child for up to two years after the child’s birth.
   2.  The employer shall make reasonable efforts to provide a place, other than a bathroom, which is shielded from view and free from intrusion from coworkers and the public, that may be used by an employee to express breast milk in privacy.
   3.  An employer who makes reasonable efforts to accommodate an employee who chooses to express breast milk in the workplace shall be deemed to be in compliance with the requirements of this section.
   4.  The department of workforce development shall provide on its internet site information and links to other internet sites where employers can access information regarding methods to accommodate employees who express breast milk in the workplace. The department shall consult with appropriate organizations or associations to determine the appropriate information and internet site links so as to provide employers with the most accurate and useful information available.
   5.  Before an employee may initiate litigation for a violation of this section, there shall be mediation between the employer and employee pursuant to chapter 679C unless the issue is outside the scope of that chapter pursuant to section 679C.103.
    Sec. 4.  Section 91.5, Code 2009, is amended to read as follows:
   91.5  Other duties —— jurisdiction in general.

   The commissioner shall have jurisdiction and it shall be the commissioner’s duty to supervise the enforcement of:

   1.  All laws relating to safety appliances and inspection thereof and health conditions in manufacturing and mercantile establishments, workshops, machine shops, other industrial concerns within the commissioner’s jurisdiction and sanitation and shelter for railway employees.
   2.  All laws of the state relating to child labor.
   3.  All laws relating to employment agencies.
   4.  All laws relating to expressing breast milk in the workplace.
   4.5.  Such other provisions of law as are now or shall hereafter be within the commissioner’s jurisdiction.
EXPLANATION
   This bill concerns the accommodation in the workplace of employees who express breast milk.
   The bill requires that an employer provide an employee who expresses breast milk reasonable time each day, paid or unpaid, to express breast milk for up to two years after the birth of the employee’s child. The employer is also required to make reasonable efforts to provide a private place other than a bathroom for the employee to express breast milk. “Reasonable efforts” is defined in the bill.
   The department of workforce development is required to provide on its internet site information and other internet site links that give employers access to information about methods of accommodating employees who express breast milk at work.
   The bill states that before an employee can litigate an employer’s alleged violation of the bill, the employee and employer are required to participate in mediation pursuant to Code chapter 679C.