Researcher: LRH Page 1 3/9/21
OLR Bill Analysis
HB 5158
AN ACT CONCERNING BREASTFEEDING IN THE WORKPLACE.
SUMMARY
This bill establishes certain criteria for employer-provided areas
used by employees to express breast milk.
Existing law requires employers to make reasonable efforts to
provide a room or other location near the employee’s work area, other
than a toilet stall, where an employee can express her milk in private
during a meal or break period. The bill further requires that, as long as
there is no undue hardship, this area must (1) be free from intrusion
and shielded from the public while the employee expresses milk; (2)
include or be near a refrigerator or employee-provided portable cold
storage device in which the employee can store her breast milk; and (3)
have access to an electrical outlet.
By law, an employer’s “reasonable efforts” to provide such an area
are those that would not impose an undue hardship on the employer’s
business operation. An “undue hardship” is any action that requires
significant difficulty or expense when considered in relation to factors
such as the business’s size and financial resources and the nature and
structure of its operation.
EFFECTIVE DATE: October 1, 2021
COMMITTEE ACTION
Labor and Public Employees Committee
Joint Favorable
Yea 12 Nay 1 (02/18/2021)