Lactation Accommodation
Congratulations on your upcoming or recent arrival! The University is committed to promoting a family-friendly work environment by providing programs and services to help employees achieve success at work and in their personal lives. To that effect, employees and management are encouraged to be accepting of nursing mothers, and departments will provide a location and a reasonable amount of time to accommodate their lactation needs pursuant to state laws.
Research continues to affirm the health and wellness benefits of providing human breast milk to babies, these benefits include:
· Stronger immune systems to defend against bacteria and viruses
· Nutrients designed to enhance brain and physical development
· Unique opportunities for parent and child bonding.
Effective March 23, 2010 the Federal Health Care Reform Act requires the following:
· A “reasonable break time for an employee to express breast milk for her nursing child for 1 year after the child’s birth each time such employee has need to express the milk.”
· 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.”
· A reasonable amount of break time to express milk as frequently as needed by the nursing mother. The frequency of breaks needed to express milk as well as the duration of each break will likely vary.
Lactation Rooms:
Campus: We have one lactation room located on campus on the first floor of Kolligian Library. The room is to the right of the restrooms (signs states “Shower”). The key to access the Lactation Room is located at the Students First desk on the first floor of the Kolligian Library.
Castle: Room 108
Mondo: 2nd Floor, Room 202, Slate Conference Room (Reserve this space through the calendar system)
Classroom and Office Building: COB 338 (Shower Room)
Social Sciences and Management Building: SSM214
These are convenient, private, clean, and safe areas for the purpose of expressing breast milk and/or breastfeeding.
For scheduling use of the Lactation Rooms, please contact Tina Machado in the Human Resources Office at 228-2348 or by email tmachado@ucmerced.edu.
Responding to a Request for Time Away from Work to Express Milk
Supervisors are encouraged to work within University policies regarding breaks and hours of work to accommodate employees who wish to express milk during work hours. Generally, a maximum of 20-30 minutes, 2 - 3 times per day, should be sufficient; however, the required time is impacted by individual needs and the proximity of a reasonable space for lactation.
Decisions should therefore be made on a case by case basis. Consider schedule options that would accommodate this leave time, and still allow for business needs to be accomplished. A variety of flexible work arrangements can be used for the purpose of accommodating lactation time, such as alternate start/stop times to the workday, rearranging break periods, etc.
The lactation break time for non-exempt employees may run concurrently with the employee's existing rest period. If it is not possible for a lactation break to run concurrently with the rest period, the University must make available a separate unpaid break time. For non-exempt employees, this is neither time worked nor time on pay status.
Quick links:
Lactation Consultants
