(a) Findings and Purpose.
(1) Breastfeeding provides health benefits to babies, as breast milk contains antibodies that protect babies from childhood illnesses including ear infections, respiratory infections, dermatitis, gastrointestinal disorders, asthma, obesity, diabetes, and a reduced risk of Sudden Infant Death Syndrome. The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends that babies be fed exclusively breast milk for the first six months of life and that breastfeeding continue at least until the end of the baby's first year. For some parents, breast milk is readily available and affordable.
(2) Breastfeeding also provides many health benefits for mothers, including earlier return to pre-pregnancy weight, and reduced risk of maternal postpartum depression, several cancers, type II diabetes, and osteoporosis. If a mother does not regularly express milk, the mother's breasts can become full and uncomfortable, which may lead to a decrease in milk supply or infection. Most nursing mothers who return to work are able to sustain their milk supply and avoid discomfort by simply expressing their milk at intervals and for lengths of time that suit their bodies.
(3) According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, approximately 79% of new mothers breastfeed their babies at some point. Despite the benefits to mother and child of breastfeeding, only about 42% of babies are exclusively fed breast milk at three months of age. At six months of age, 19% of babies are exclusively fed with breast milk, and 49% of babies are fed any breast milk at that age.
(4) In the United States, more than one-third of mothers with children under the age of two work full time outside the home. Employment of mothers outside the home, especially full-time employment, has a negative influence on the period of time mothers breastfeed. Only 25% of employed women who are breastfeeding a child under age one continue to breastfeed the child for at least one month after returning to work. In 2000, only 11% of mothers with a one-year-old child and who worked full-time were still breastfeeding the child, in comparison to 19% of mothers who worked part-time while having a one-year-old child, and 22% of such mothers who were not in the labor force.
(5) Under the Healthy People 2020 initiative, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services' Office of Disease Prevention and Health Promotion developed a set of national objectives, which include a goal to increase the proportion of mothers who breastfeed their babies in the early postpartum period to 81.9% by 2020, and to increase the proportion of employers that have worksite lactation support programs to 14.2%. Through this Section 16.9-26, the City intends to be one of those employers.
(6) An employer with a breastfeeding-friendly environment may have an advantage when recruiting and retaining employees. Breastfeeding may decrease employee absenteeism due to illness of a child, to the extent breastfeeding reduces childhood illnesses. The fewer the childhood illnesses, the fewer sick days mothers and fathers have to take for children's illnesses.
(7) Federal law requires all employers to provide nursing mothers with reasonable break time to express milk for one year after the child's birth and a private space other than a bathroom, that is shielded from view and free from intrusion, to express breast milk. (29 U.S.C. 207(r).) Similarly, California law requires all employers to provide a reasonable amount of break time and to make a reasonable effort to provide a private space, other than a toilet stall, close to the employee's work area, to accommodate an employee desiring to express breast milk at work. (Cal. Labor Code § 1030.) Twenty-seven states, the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico have laws that are supportive of breastfeeding in the workplace.
(8) A work environment that is supportive of a mother’s efforts to breastfeed her child will likely increase the period of the child’s life during which breastfeeding will occur. By implementing a policy that supports mothers returning to work, the City will enhance mothers’ ability to continue breastfeeding through their child’s first year and beyond.
(9) In recognition of the well documented health advantages for mother and child of breastfeeding, the purpose of this Section 16.9-26 is to provide a supportive work environment to enable City employees who are nursing mothers to breastfeed or express milk during working hours. The Board of Supervisors finds that providing a supportive work environment to these employees will greatly benefit their health and welfare and strengthen their families, and will enhance the City’s ability to attract and retain employees.
(b) Definitions.
(1) “City” shall mean the City and County of San Francisco.
(2) “Department” shall mean any department of the City.
(3) “DHR” shall mean the Department of Human Resources.
(4) “Lactation” or “Lactate” shall mean breastfeeding, or expressing milk by removing breast milk by hand, manual breast pump, or electric breast pump.
(5) “Nursing Mother” shall mean an employee of the City with a child who is feeding the child by means of Lactation.
(6) “Policy” shall mean the City’s Lactation in the Workplace Policy, as described in subsection (c) and as implemented by DHR.
(c) Lactation in the Workplace Policy.
(1) DHR shall develop the City's Lactation in the Workplace Policy. The Policy shall address the subjects covered in subsections (c)(1)(A), (B), (C), and (D), and meet the minimum standards set in those subsections. The Policy may also impose other requirements consistent with this Section 16.9-26, that DHR deems necessary or appropriate to facilitate Lactation in the workplace, and that give due consideration to the privacy of Nursing Mothers engaged in Lactation under the Policy.
(A) Work Breaks for Lactation. The Policy shall: (i) require Departments to allow Nursing Mothers breaks for Lactation during work hours using normal paid breaks and meal times; (ii) require Departments to accommodate additional unpaid breaks for Lactation to the extent feasible given the operational demands of the Department; and (iii) require Departments to establish a process for Nursing Mothers to request breaks for Lactation.
(B) Space for Lactation. The Policy shall require Departments to provide a place for Lactation, other than a bathroom, that is shielded from view and free from intrusion from coworkers and the public. The Policy shall encourage Departments to provide a private room with (i) a door that can be locked, (ii) at least one electrical outlet, (iii) a chair or chairs, (iv) adequate lighting, (v) the ability to add a partition to the room to accommodate multiple Nursing Mothers simultaneously, and (vi) other amenities such as a refrigerator for storage of breast milk, a sink, and a hospital-grade electric breast pump or pumps. Rooms designated for Lactation may be used for other purposes when not needed for Lactation. Rooms designated for Lactation shall be identified with appropriate signage. The Policy shall require Departments to create a system for Nursing Mothers to schedule use of the facilities available for Lactation.
(C) Lactation Space in New or Renovated City Workplaces. The Policy shall provide that when the City constructs a new building that will be a workplace for City employees, enters into a new lease for all or part of a building that will be a workplace for City employees, or engages in a renovation of an existing owned or leased building that is or will be a workplace for City employees, the Department managing the construction or renovation project or entering into the lease will consult with DHR to ensure that sufficient space is identified to be used for Lactation to accommodate the number of City employees anticipated to work in the workplace who are or will be Nursing Mothers during any one time period.
(D) Public Lactation Rights. Under state law, a mother has the right to breastfeed her child in any location, public or private, except the private home or residence of another. The Policy shall state that Nursing Mothers are not required to limit Lactation to spaces identified by the City for this purpose. The Policy shall also state that City employees shall not infringe the right of any member of the public to engage in Lactation in any City location that is open to the public.
(2) Each Department shall comply with the Policy. Departments may seek DHR’s assistance in implementing the Policy. The Policy may require or permit any Department to develop a department-specific policy consistent with the minimum standards set in subsections (c)(1)(A), (B), (C), and (D). DHR must approve any department-specific policy.
(3) The Policy shall be distributed to all new employees and to all employees who request parental leave, prior to going on parental leave.
(d) DHR Website and Materials.
(1) DHR shall develop a website (or webpage on its own website) that contains informational materials or links to information regarding Lactation and breastfeeding. The website shall contain information for all expectant parents regarding Lactation and related issues, the availability of breast milk banks, the Policy, and any department-specific Lactation policies. The website shall include a list of the locations of all Lactation facilities available to City employees. The website shall advise City employees of mothers' right under state law to engage in Lactation in public, and shall state that City employees shall not infringe this right of any member of the public engaged in Lactation on City property that is open to the public. The website may also include any other information DHR deems relevant to facilitate Nursing Mothers' return to work and promote the goals of the Policy and this Section 16.9-26.
(2) DHR shall develop and/or compile printed informational materials regarding Lactation resources for distribution to City employees before their parental leave or upon return to work from parental leave.
(e) Undertaking for the General Welfare. In enacting and implementing this Section 16.9-26, the City is assuming an undertaking only to promote the general welfare. It is not assuming, nor is it imposing on its officers and employees, an obligation for breach of which it is liable in money damages to any person who claims that such breach proximately caused injury.
(f) No Conflict with Federal or State Law. Nothing in this Section 16.9-26 shall be interpreted or applied so as to create any requirement, power, or duty in conflict with any federal or state law.
(g) Severability. If any section, subsection, sentence, clause, phrase, or word of this Section 16.9-26, or any application thereof to any person or circumstance, is held to be invalid or unconstitutional by a decision of a court of competent jurisdiction, such decision shall not affect the validity of the remaining portions or applications of this Section 16.9-26. The Board of Supervisors hereby declares that it would have passed this Section 16.9-26 and each and every section, subsection, sentence, clause, phrase, and word not declared invalid or unconstitutional without regard to whether any other portion of this Section 16.9-26 or application thereof would be subsequently declared invalid or unconstitutional.
(Added by Ord. 160-16, File No. 160592, App. 8/4/2016, Eff. 9/3/2016)