REPORT TITLE:
Breastfeeding


DESCRIPTION:
Requires the State Commission on the Status of Women to
accumulate, compile, and publish data concerning instances of
discrimination involving breastfeeding or expressing breastmilk
in the workplace or penalize a breastfeeding employee who
breastfeed or express milk at the workplace.  Prohibits an
employer to penalize a breastfeeding employee who breastfeeds or
expresses milk at the workplace.  (HB266 HD1)



 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
                                                        266  
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES                H.B. NO.           H.D. 1
TWENTIETH LEGISLATURE, 1999                                
STATE OF HAWAII                                            
                                                             
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                   A  BILL  FOR  AN  ACT

RELATING TO NEW MOTHERS BREASTFEEDING PROMOTION AND PROTECTION
   ACT.



BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF HAWAII:

 1      SECTION 1.  This Act may be cited as the "New Mothers
 
 2 Breastfeeding Promotion and Protection Act of 1999."
 
 3      SECTION 2.  The legislature finds that:
 
 4      (1)  Women with infants and toddlers are the fastest growing
 
 5           segment of today's labor force, with at least fifty per
 
 6           cent of pregnant women who are employed returning to
 
 7           work by the time their children are three months old;
 
 8      (2)  The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends
 
 9           breastfeeding for at least the first twelve months of a
 
10           child's life and further recommends that arrangements
 
11           be made to provide expressed breastmilk if mother and
 
12           child are separated;
 
13      (3)  Breastmilk contains all the nutrients a child needs for
 
14           ideal growth and development, including helpful
 
15           antibodies, proteins, immune cells, and growth factors
 
16           that can only be found in breastmilk;
 
17      (4)  Breastmilk is the first line of infant immunization
 
18           defense and enhances the effectiveness of infant
 
19           vaccines;
 

 
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                                     H.B. NO.           H.D. 1
                                                        
                                                        

 
 1      (5)  Research studies show that children who are not
 
 2           breastfed have higher rates of mortality, meningitis,
 
 3           some types of cancers, asthma, bacterial and viral
 
 4           infections, diarrhocal diseases, ear infections,
 
 5           allergies, and obesity;
 
 6      (6)  Research studies also show that breastmilk and
 
 7           breastfeeding have protective effects against the
 
 8           development of a number of chronic diseases, including
 
 9           juvenile diabetes, lymphomas, Crohn's disease, celiac
 
10           disease, some chronic liver diseases, and ulcerative
 
11           colitis;
 
12      (7)  Breastfeeding promotion and support are an integral
 
13           part of the federal nutrition services provided by the
 
14           women, infants, and children (WIC) program, and has
 
15           reduced the costs of that program; for example, in a
 
16           recent cost-benefit study in Colorado, the WIC
 
17           breastfeeding program saved $161 per infant in the
 
18           first six months of life when compared with formula-fed
 
19           infants, and saved $112 per infant in the medicaid
 
20           program by reducing pharmacy costs by fifty per cent;
 
21      (8)  Women who wish to continue breastfeeding after
 
22           returning to work have relatively few needs to allow
 
23           them to breastfeed at work, such as:
 

 
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                                     H.B. NO.           H.D. 1
                                                        
                                                        

 
 1           (A)  The availability of suitable, dependable, and
 
 2                efficient breast pumps;
 
 3           (B)  The availability of a clean, safe, private, and
 
 4                comfortable location to express milk at the
 
 5                worksite;
 
 6           (C)  The opportunity to pump their breasts to
 
 7                adequately maintain their milk supply; and
 
 8           (D)  An adequate place to temporarily store expressed
 
 9                milk;
 
10      (9)  Many women do not have access to adequate facilities
 
11           for expressing milk at their workplace, and are forced
 
12           to pump in restrooms lacking privacy, comfort, and
 
13           cleanliness;
 
14     (10)  Many employers do not have adequate refrigeration
 
15           facilities for storing expressed milk; and
 
16     (11)  Many workplaces are not supportive of breastfeeding
 
17           employees and such employees have:
 
18           (A)  Been discharged for requesting to breastfeed or
 
19                express milk during lunch or regular breaks;
 
20           (B)  Been harassed or discriminated against for
 
21                breastfeeding or expressing milk at work; and
 
22           (C)  Had their pay withheld for indicating an intention
 
23                to breastfeed or express milk during the workday.
 
24                     
 

 
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                                     H.B. NO.           H.D. 1
                                                        
                                                        

 
 1      The purpose of this Act is to prohibit discriminatory
 
 2 employment practices against women who breastfeed or express
 
 3 milk.
 
 4      SECTION 3.  Section 367-3, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is
 
 5 amended to read as follows:
 
 6      "§367-3 Duties of commission.  The commission shall:
 
 7      (1)  Act as a central clearinghouse and coordinating body
 
 8           for governmental and nongovernmental activities and
 
 9           information relating to the status of women;
 
10      (2)  Accumulate, compile, and publish information concerning
 
11           instances of actual discrimination, and discrimination
 
12           in the law, against women[;], including instances of
 
13           discrimination involving breastfeeding or expressing
 
14           breastmilk in the workplace under chapter 378.  For
 
15           purposes of this paragraph, the term "breastfeeding"
 
16           means the feeding of a child directly from the breast
 
17           by a lactating woman;
 
18      (3)  Cooperate with the department of labor and industrial
 
19           relations and other state departments and agencies and
 
20           appropriate federal offices and agencies in correcting
 
21           unlawful employment practices, in public and private
 
22           employment, involving discrimination because of sex;
 

 
 
 
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                                     H.B. NO.           H.D. 1
                                                        
                                                        

 
 1      (4)  Create public awareness and understanding of the
 
 2           responsibilities, needs, potentials, and contributions
 
 3           of women as homemakers, workers, and active
 
 4           participants in community life and of the importance of
 
 5           each of these roles in the changing society;
 
 6      (5)  Recommend legislative and administrative action on
 
 7           equal treatment and opportunities for women;
 
 8      (6)  Seek improvements in educational and counseling
 
 9           programs and policies to meet the needs of girls and
 
10           women in order better to prepare them for their roles
 
11           in the home and community;
 
12      (7)  Encourage a long-range program of education of women in
 
13           their political rights and responsibilities,
 
14           particularly with respect to their voting duties;
 
15      (8)  Maintain contacts with appropriate federal, state,
 
16           local and international agencies concerned with the
 
17           status of women;
 
18      (9)  Cooperate with national groups on the status of women
 
19           and arrange for participation by representatives of the
 
20           State in White House conferences and other national
 
21           conferences from time to time;
 
22     (10)  Administer funds allocated for its work; be authorized
 
23           to accept, disburse, and allocate funds which may
 

 
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                                     H.B. NO.           H.D. 1
                                                        
                                                        

 
 1           become available from other governmental and private
 
 2           sources; provided that all such funds shall be
 
 3           disbursed or allocated in compliance with any specific
 
 4           designation stated by the donor and in the absence of
 
 5           such specific designation, such funds shall be
 
 6           disbursed or allocated on projects related to any of
 
 7           the purposes of this chapter; and
 
 8     (11)  Submit an annual report with recommendations to the
 
 9           governor and the legislature."
 
10      SECTION 4.  Section 378-2, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is
 
11 amended to read as follows:
 
12      "§378-2 Discriminatory practices made unlawful; offenses
 
13 defined.  It shall be an unlawful discriminatory practice:
 
14      (1)  Because of race, sex, sexual orientation, age,
 
15           religion, color, ancestry, disability, marital status,
 
16           or arrest and court record:
 
17           (A)  For any employer to refuse to hire or employ or to
 
18                bar or discharge from employment, or otherwise to
 
19                discriminate against any individual in
 
20                compensation or in the terms, conditions, or
 
21                privileges of employment;
 

 
 
 
 
 
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                                     H.B. NO.           H.D. 1
                                                        
                                                        

 
 1           (B)  For any employment agency to fail or refuse to
 
 2                refer for employment, or to classify or otherwise
 
 3                to discriminate against, any individual;
 
 4           (C)  For any employer or employment agency to print,
 
 5                circulate, or cause to be printed or circulated
 
 6                any statement, advertisement, or publication or to
 
 7                use any form of application for employment or to
 
 8                make any inquiry in connection with prospective
 
 9                employment, which expresses, directly or
 
10                indirectly, any limitation, specification, or
 
11                discrimination;
 
12           (D)  For any labor organization to exclude or expel
 
13                from its membership any individual or to
 
14                discriminate in any way against any of its
 
15                members, employer, or employees; or
 
16           (E)  For any employer or labor organization to refuse
 
17                to enter into an apprenticeship agreement as
 
18                defined in section 372-2; provided that no
 
19                apprentice shall be less than sixteen years of
 
20                age;
 
21      (2)  For any employer, labor organization, or employment
 
22           agency to discharge, expel, or otherwise discriminate
 
23           against any individual because the individual has
 

 
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                                     H.B. NO.           H.D. 1
                                                        
                                                        

 
 1           opposed any practice forbidden by this part or has
 
 2           filed a complaint, testified, or assisted in any
 
 3           proceeding respecting the discriminatory practices
 
 4           prohibited under this part;
 
 5      (3)  For any person whether an employer, employee, or not,
 
 6           to aid, abet, incite, compel, or coerce the doing of
 
 7           any of the discriminatory practices forbidden by this
 
 8           part, or to attempt to do so;
 
 9      (4)  For any employer to violate the provisions of section
 
10           121-43 relating to nonforfeiture for absence by members
 
11           of the national guard;
 
12      (5)  For any employer to refuse to hire or employ or to bar
 
13           or discharge from employment, any individual because of
 
14           assignment of income for the purpose of satisfying the
 
15           individual's child support obligations as provided for
 
16           under section 571-52; [or]
 
17      (6)  For any employer, labor organization, or employment
 
18           agency to exclude or otherwise deny equal jobs or
 
19           benefits to a qualified individual because of the known
 
20           disability of an individual with whom the qualified
 
21           individual is known to have a relationship or
 
22           association[.]; or
 

 
 
 
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                                     H.B. NO.           H.D. 1
                                                        
                                                        

 
 1      (7)  For any employer or labor organization to refuse to
 
 2           hire, discharge, or withhold pay, demote, or penalize a
 
 3           lactating employee who breastfeeds or expresses milk at
 
 4           the workplace.  For purposes of this paragraph, the
 
 5           term "breastfeeds" means the feeding of a child
 
 6           directly from the breast."
 
 7      SECTION 5.  Statutory material to be repealed is bracketed.
 
 8 New statutory material is underscored.
 
 9      SECTION 6.  This Act shall take effect upon its approval.