PM 36 Lactation Accommodation
Date: December 21, 2022
Approved by: Julia M. McCallin, Associate Vice President for Human Resources, Chief Human Resources Officer
(This supersedes memo 24, dated 8/19/2022)
1.0 Policy
Caltech is committed to providing a supportive environment on site that enables employees and students to express their milk at work in private, in an appropriate space, and in reasonable proximity to their work and study areas.
2.0 Request Lactation Accommodation
Employees and students who are breastfeeding have the right to request a lactation accommodation.
2.1
Employees who are breastfeeding should request and arrange with their supervisor appropriate and reasonable break times for lactation purposes. Supervisors should provide as much schedule flexibility and break time as is reasonably necessary to accommodate the individual's needs.
3.0 Lactation Break
3.1
Break times for lactation purposes should run concurrently with the rest periods already provided; the supervisor is responsible for making the determination as to whether break times can be adjusted based on operational considerations.
3.2
If it is not possible for the breaks to run concurrently with the individual's existing break times, Caltech must make available separate break times. Overtime eligible employees must accurately reflect on their timecard any lactation breaks that do not run concurrently with normally scheduled rest periods. Any such breaks will be unpaid.
3.3
An individual may be granted a flexible work arrangement to allow for time off to express milk.
4.0 Lactation Facilities
Caltech will provide employees and students who are breastfeeding with space in close proximity to their work area that is shielded from view and free from intrusion from colleagues and the public to express breast milk. The room or location may include the place where the employee or student normally works if it otherwise meets the requirements of the lactation space.
4.1
The lactation room will:
4.1.2 Be safe, clean, and free of toxic or hazardous materials
4.1.3 Have access to electricity
4.1.4 Contain a place to sit, a surface to place breast pump and personal items
4.1.5 Have access to a sink with running water and a refrigerator in close proximity to the individual's work area
4.1.6 Potentially be a multi-purpose room if it satisfies the requirements for space; however, use of the room for lactation takes priority over other uses
4.2
Caltech has a number of rooms available which meet the requirements above Lactation Rooms
5.0 Employee Resources
Any concerns or complaints related to the right to lactation accommodations should be brought to the Disability and Leave Administration Unit, [email protected]
External resource link: https://www.dir.ca.gov/dlse/Lactation_Accommodation.htm
6.0 Exceptions
Any exception to this policy requires the approval of the Associate Vice President and Chief Human Resources Officer or designee for Campus staff, or of the Director for Human Resources at JPL or designee for JPL staff.