(UNEDITED) Sadly, Utah legislators missed an easy opportunity to make life easier for working families last Friday when they defeated House Bill 252, Workplace Accomodation of Breastfeeding.
This bill would have required employers with more than 15 employees to provide unpaid break time and a private location -- other than a toilet stall -- where a working mother could express her milk for her baby. This is a simple request and would not be a strain for most employers, if they understood the value of providing this accommodation.
For thousands of working mothers across Utah, this bill would have removed anxiety surrounding the work/motherhood balance. It is awkward, to say the least, for a mother to approach her employer and ask for help finding a place and time to express milk, especially if she is uncertain if she will be supported or scolded.
Providing a "private location" is as simple as offering the keys to an empty office, or even a storage room. It does not have to be luxurious, only clean and private. It is ludicrous to expect mothers to express their baby's food in a restroom. For obvious sanitary and food safety reasons, no health department would approve of sandwich making in the workplace restroom; a mother should not be forced to prepare her baby's meals there, either.
The break time required to express milk is minimal. Smoking breaks, coffee breaks, lunch breaks and bathroom breaks are the acceptable norm, but our legislators balk at the idea of employers providing working mothers with brief pumping breaks. It's not special treatment; it is acknowledgement of a healthy, biological need. No one would expect any employee to work an eight-hour shift without needing to urinate; without milk removal, a mother's discomfort can quickly turn to infection.
Since 2008, Colorado state law has accommodated nursing mothers who work outside the home. I hope Utah will follow that lead soon, before I hear any more stories about mothers feeling forced to surrender breastfeeding because of a lack of accommodation at work. One mother told me she endured weeks of harassment from colleagues, who likened her once-a-shift breaks to express milk in the restroom to masturbation. She was bold enough to report the problem to a supervisor, who accommodated her with a more private pumping location and made the rude comments stop, but not all mothers -- and babies! -- are so fortunate.
While it is not law, employers wishing to engender loyalty from their workers should make every effort to support breastfeeding. Human milk is the gold standard of infant food, and protects babies' health in countless ways. Parents of healthy children rarely miss work to care for sick kids, and parents who work for companies that support their efforts to provide the best of everything for their families will be devoted, long-term employees.
There is talk of controversial health care reform in the U.S. This bill could have been a step towards improved health for our entire state, and it should not have been the least bit controversial.
Please let your legislator know you are watching and expect better support for families in the future. Utah's mothers and babies deserved better.
Sally H. N. Wright
Uintah
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