Washington State House of Representatives Office of Program Research | BILL ANALYSIS |
Labor & Workplace Standards Committee |
HB 1930
This analysis was prepared by non-partisan legislative staff for the use of legislative members in their deliberations. This analysis is not a part of the legislation nor does it constitute a statement of legislative intent. |
Brief Description: Concerning reasonable accommodation for the expression of breast milk in the workplace.
Sponsors: Representatives Doglio, Dolan, Jinkins, Reeves, Shewmake, Stanford, Pollet, Macri, Senn and Ormsby.
Brief Summary of Bill |
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Hearing Date: 2/12/19
Staff: Trudes Tango (786-7384).
Background:
It is an unfair practice for an employer with 15 or more employees to fail or refuse to make reasonable accommodation for an employee's pregnancy or pregnancy-related health conditions, unless it would impose an undue hardship on the employer's program, enterprise, or business.
"Reasonable accommodation" means:
providing more frequent, longer, or flexible restroom breaks;
modifying a no food or drink policy;
providing job restructuring, part-time or modified work schedules, reassignment, or acquiring or modifying equipment or an employee's work station;
providing seating or allowing the employee to sit more frequently if her job requires her to stand;
providing for a temporary transfer to a less strenuous or less hazardous position;
providing assistance with manual labor and limits on lifting;
scheduling flexibility for prenatal visits; and
any further accommodation an employee may request, and to which an employer must give reasonable consideration in consultation with information provided by the Department of Labor and Industries or the employee's health care provider.
"Undue hardship" means an action requiring significant difficulty or expense.
The Attorney General (AG) must investigate complaints and provide enforcement, including using conference and conciliation. An employee may file a complaint with the AG or bring a civil cause of action in court to enjoin further violations and recover actual damages, costs, and reasonable attorneys' fees or any other appropriate remedy.
Under the federal Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA), employers are required to provide reasonable break time for an employee to express breast milk for up to one year after the child's birth each time the employee has the need to express milk. Employers are also required to provide a place, other than a bathroom, that is shielded from view and free from intrusion from coworkers and the public, which may be used by an employee to express breast milk. Employers with fewer than 50 employees are not subject to the FLSA requirement if compliance would impose an undue hardship considering the difficulty or expense of compliance and the size, financial resources, nature, and structure of the employer's business. The FLSA provision on expressing breast milk does not apply to employees who are exempt from the FLSA overtime requirements.
Summary of Bill:
The definition of "pregnancy" is amended to include the need to express breast milk.
Requiring reasonable accommodations for pregnancy include providing reasonable break time for an employee to express breast milk for two years after the child's birth each time the employee has the need to express breast milk, and providing a private location, other than a bathroom, which may be used by the employee to express breast milk.
Appropriation: None.
Fiscal Note: Requested on February 11, 2019.
Effective Date: The bill takes effect 90 days after adjournment of the session in which the bill is passed.