The Assembly Community Development and Women’s Affairs Committee advances two bills Wednesday, requiring employers to provide accommodations for employees who are breastfeeding, and also require lactation facilities at airports. Photo credit: Shohini Mitra/NJ State House News Service.

By Shohini Mitra
NJ State House News Service

TRENTON, N.J. – A pair of bills that would require workplace accommodations for nursing mothers unanimously advanced out of committee Thursday.

Republican Assembly Member Dawn Fantasia from Franklin Borough shared her experiences with the lack of such measures in the workplace over 20 years ago.

“I was relegated to a closet where we stored dirty linens. It was a small sink filled with dirty mop water. The only place to sit was if you put the toilet plate down. It was filthy,” Fantasia said. “I would just dump it [the breast milk] right out because I couldn’t bring it from that filthy environment back home to my baby.”

Bill A704 aims to provide specific accommodations for breastfeeding and lactating employees within the workplace. Sponsored by Assembly Member Shanique Speight, a Democrat from Newark, the legislation amends workplace discrimination laws and clarifies current language to help moms breastfeeding.

The measure consists of set terms such as securing reasonable break times for breastfeeding women while upholding compensation at a regular rate. Under added amendments, the new requirements would only apply to companies with more than 15 employees.

The bill also requires private lactation rooms separate from restrooms within a fair distance from the work area and allows for modifying the employee’s schedule to align with breastfeeding times. 

Some lawmakers had concerns about the duration of the accommodation in the workplace. The bill would apply to breastfeeding women for as long as they require, but some Assembly members suggested considering future amendments to limit the time or require a doctor’s note.

The lack of a specific duration is a concern for many employers, according to Jack Kelly of the New Jersey Business & Industry Association.

“The most problematic provision in this bill is the ‘for as long as she desires’ accommodation. I don’t know of any instances that breastfeeding occurs beyond that point. Yet, layered with the private right of action, now you’re exposing a business owner to liability,” Kelly testified.

Despite her concern about no time limit, Fantasia disagreed with his claim that women typically stop breastfeeding after one year. 

“One of mine I nursed for 10 months. My youngest was born early and was very, very tiny. I nursed her for 14 months,” Fantasia said. “You can’t necessarily say one year is the hard and fast cutoff.”

Asked after the hearing about when she thought the cutoff should be, Fantasia said, “I don’t want to place a value judgment on that, but the federal government says one year. If we want to extend it, we can say 18 months. We can say two years, but I don’t think it is fair or permissible, nor would we want to enable … abuse, by leaving it entirely open ended.”

The legislation was moved unanimously, though Fantasia abstained, citing her wish to amend the bill. 

The second bill, A5071, calls for lactation stations in all Port Authority airports.

Sponsored by Assembly Member Carol Murphy, a Democrat from Mount Laurel, the bill would require airports with more than one million passengers annually to ensure all terminals provide private rooms with a chair and an electric outlet for nursing mothers. The rooms cannot be public restrooms and must include sinks. 

Smaller airports with between 10,000 and one million annual passengers must provide the same accommodation in any new or renovated terminal, according to the bill.

Because of the Port Authority’s connections with both New Jersey and New York, New York must pass identical legislation as well. 

 That measure was also moved unanimously

“I’m glad to see legislation like this,” Fantasia said. “Going back 25 years, we wouldn’t be having this conversation.”