LCO No. 6068 1 of 2
General Assembly Committee Bill No. 7043
January Session, 2019
LCO No. 6068
Referred to Committee on LABOR AND PUBLIC EMPLOYEES
Introduced by:
(LAB)
AN ACT CONCERNING BREASTFEEDING IN THE WORKPLACE.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General
Assembly convened:
Section 1. Section 31-40w of the general statutes is repealed and the 1
following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective October 1, 2019): 2
(a) Any employee may, at her discretion, express breast milk or 3
breastfeed on site at her workplace during her meal or break period. 4
(b) An employer shall make reasonable efforts to provide a room or 5
other location, in close proximity to the work area, other than a toilet 6
stall, where the employee can express her milk in private, and that (1) 7
is free from intrusion and shielded from the public while such 8
employee expresses breast milk, (2) includes or is situated near a 9
refrigerator or employee-provided portable cold storage device in 10
which the employee can store her breast milk, and (3) includes access 11
to an electrical outlet. 12
(c) An employer shall not discriminate against, discipline or take 13
any adverse employment action against any employee because such 14
employee has elected to exercise her rights under subsection (a) of this 15
Committee Bill No. 7043
LCO No. 6068 2 of 2
section. 16
(d) As used in this section, "employer" means a person engaged in 17
business who has one or more employees, including the state and any 18
political subdivision of the state; "employee" means any person 19
engaged in service to an employer in the business of the employer; 20
"reasonable efforts" means any effort that would not impose an undue 21
hardship on the operation of the employer's business; and "undue 22
hardship" means any action that requires significant difficulty or 23
expense when considered in relation to factors such as the size of the 24
business, its financial resources and the nature and structure of its 25
operation. 26
This act shall take effect as follows and shall amend the following
sections:
Section 1 October 1, 2019 31-40w
Statement of Purpose:
To specify certain parameters for a room or other location in the
workplace that accommodates employee breastfeeding.
[Proposed deletions are enclosed in brackets. Proposed additions are indicated by underline,
except that when the entire text of a bill or resolution or a section of a bill or resolution is new, it is
not underlined.]
Co-Sponsors: REP. SIMMONS, 144th Dist.; SEN. FLEXER, 29th Dist.
REP. MCCARTHY VAHEY, 133rd Dist.; REP. PORTER, 94th Dist.
REP. LINEHAN, 103rd Dist.; REP. CONLEY, 40th Dist.
SEN. COHEN, 12th Dist.; SEN. MOORE, 22nd Dist.
SEN. ABRAMS, 13th Dist.; SEN. KUSHNER, 24th Dist.
REP. MICHEL, 146th Dist.
H.B. 7043