Santa Clara County Goes More 'Mom Friendly' Passing New Policy for Breast-Feeding Employees

The Santa Clara County Board of Supervisors passed a new policy Tuesday requiring large county buildings to provide rooms for female employees to pump breast milk for storing and feeding their infants, county officials said.

Under the new Lactation Accommodation Policy, county buildings that have 200 or more employees must make one room available where their female workers may pump and store breast milk and nurse during the workday, officials said.

Newly built or purchased county facilities would have to set aside such a room, unless they are too small to do so, officials said.

The aim is to make county facilities more “mother friendly” and create an atmosphere of acceptance for nursing mothers in the workplace, according to officials.

Jeff Cardenas, an aide to Supervisor Cindy Chavez who sponsored the plan, said the county government is also taking the initiative because of the high number of women of childbearing age it employs, particularly in the Department of Public Health.

The lactation accommodation policy would give women with babies a reasonable amount of break time to let them pump out breast milk or nurse in a private room and where feasible, also permit visiting women to use it, officials said.

The rooms would have to have a door with a lock, an electrical outlet and be close to both a refrigerator and sink. The use of the rooms would not lead to on-the-job discrimination against mothers, according to the county.

The county policy is in keeping with the new Family Friendly Workplace Award program being offered starting this year by the county’s Office of Women’s Policy and the Commission on the Status of Women to promote workplace accommodations for mothers in businesses and public offices, Cardenas said.

“The award is creating an incentive to do that,” Cardenas said.

The three-tiered “family friendly” award, which includes bronze, silver and gold levels, is modeled after the county’s Green Business certification given to businesses for energy conservation, he said. Public and private sector employers would be eligible to apply for the award.

Those applications would be considered on the basis of offering a work environment accommodating pregnancy, parenting accommodations and leaves, lactation space and acceptance, according to officials.

Applications for the annual award will be accepted from May to August and the award given out by the county Commission on the Status of Women on national Women’s Equality Day on Aug. 26. Winning employers would receive a certificate and a digital seal to place on their websites. A separate award would be given to county employers each year.

The county’s public health department already has a Mother Friendly Employee Program for its workers granting mothers with infants special break time, a place to pump and store breast milk and fostering an attitude of acceptance and appreciation for the importance of breast feeding in the workplace, according to county officials.

--Bay City News

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