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Current Summary of Breastfeeding Legislation in the U.S.
SUMMARY OF ENACTED BREASTFEEDING LEGISLATION
OREGON
In May 2007, Oregon began providing workplace protections to mothers. The unofficial summary of the bill states:
Requires employers of 25 or more employees to provide unpaid rest periods to employees to express milk if providing rest periods does not cause undue hardship on operation of employer's business. Requires employer to make reasonable efforts to provide private location where employee can express milk. Provides civil penalty.
Requires school district boards to adopt policy regarding breast-feeding in workplace to accommodate employees needing to express milk. Excludes expressing milk from collective bargaining.
Directs Commissioner of Bureau of Labor and Industries to appoint advisory committee to address difficulties industries or professions have in complying with requirements relating to expressing milk.
The entire law can be found at: http://landru.leg.state.or.us/07reg/measures/hb2300.dir/hb2372.en.html
ORS § 109.001
1999 Ore. ALS 306; 1999 Ore. Laws 306; 1999 Ore. SB 744
A woman may breastfeed her child in a public place.
ORS § 10.050
999 Ore. ALS 1085; 1999 Ore. Laws 1085; 1999 Ore. SB 1304
... (4) a Judge of the Court or Clerk of Court
shall excuse a woman from acting as a juror upon the request of the woman if the woman is
breastfeeding a child. A request for excuse from jury service under this subsection must be made
in writing...
2005 Oregon Laws Chap. 466, SB 618, effective
January 1, 2006
SECTION 1. The Legislative Assembly finds that:
(1) Women with infants and toddlers are the fastest growing sector of today's labor force, with at
least 50 percent of pregnant women who are employed returning to work by the time their children are
three months old.
(2) The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends that every child be breast-fed for at least the first
12 months of life and urges that arrangements be made for expressing breast milk if the mother and child
are separated.
(3) Women who wish to continue breast-feeding after returning to work have relatively simple needs. These
needs include a clean, convenient, private location to express milk at the work site and adequate break
time in which to do so. + }
SECTION 2. (1) An employer may provide reasonable unpaid rest periods to accommodate an employee who needs
to express milk for her child. The employee shall notify the employer that the employee intends to express
milk upon returning to work. The employee shall, if feasible, take the rest periods to express milk at the
same time as rest periods that are otherwise provided to the employee. The employer may provide the employee
up to 60 minutes in rest periods per eight-hour shift to express milk. If the employer is required by law or
contract to provide the employee with paid rest periods, the employer shall treat the rest periods used by the
employee for expressing milk as paid rest periods, up to the amount of time the employer is required to provide
as paid rest periods. If an employee takes unpaid rest periods, the employer may allow the employee to work
before or after her normal shift to make up the amount of time used during the unpaid rest periods. If the
employee does not work to make up the amount of time used during the unpaid rest periods, the employer is not
required to compensate the employee for that time.
(2)(a) An employer may provide a room or other location, other than a public restroom or toilet stall, in close
proximity to the employee's work area for the employee to express milk in private.
(b) The room or other location may include:
(A) The employee's work area if the work area meets the requirements of paragraph (a) of this subsection; or
(B) A child care facility in close proximity to the employee's work location where the employee can express milk
in private.
(3) An employer may allow an employee to temporarily change job duties if the employee's regular job duties do
not allow her to express milk.
(4) This section applies only to an employer whose employee is expressing milk for a child 18 months of age or
younger.
(5) This section applies only to employers who employ 25 or more employees in the State of Oregon for each
working day during each of 20 or more calendar workweeks in the year in which the rest periods are to be taken
or in the year immediately preceding the year in which the rest periods are to be taken. + }
SECTION 3. { + Section 2 of this 2005 Act applies only to conduct occurring on or after the effective date of
this 2005 Act. + }
Page last edited Sat Mar 07 15:26:22 UTC 2009.
