00                  SPONSOR SUBSTITUTE FOR HOUSE BILL NO. 190                                                              
01 "An Act relating to break times for employees who nurse a child."                                                       
02 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF ALASKA:                                                                
03    * Section 1.  AS 23.10 is amended by adding a new section to article 7 to read:                                    
04            Sec. 23.10.450. Nursing mothers. (a) An employer shall provide reasonable                                  
05       unpaid break time each day to an employee who is the nursing mother of a child so                                 
06       that the employee may breastfeed or express breast milk. The break time may run                                   
07       concurrently with other break time provided to the employee and must occur at times                               
08       during the workday that reasonably ensure the health and comfort of the mother and                                
09       the child and allow the employee to maintain breast milk supply.                                                  
10            (b)  Unless to do so would create a substantial and undue hardship on the                                    
11       employer, an employer shall provide a private, secure, and sanitary room or other                                 
12       location in close proximity to the work area, other than a toilet stall, where the                                
13       employee can express milk or breastfeed the child.                                                                
14            (c)  The department shall enforce this section and may, by regulation, establish                             
15       procedures by which an employee may file a complaint alleging a violation of this                                 
01       section.  The department may impose a civil fine not to exceed $50 on an employer for                             
02       a violation of this section.                                                                                      
03            (d)  In this section,                                                                                        
04                 (1)  "employer" means a corporation, company, partnership, firm,                                        
05       association, organization, or sole proprietor, including the state and any political                              
06       subdivision of the state;                                                                                         
07                 (2)  "undue hardship" means an action that is unreasonably difficult or                                 
08       costly when considered in relation to factors such as the size of the employer's                                  
09       business, its financial resources, and the nature and structure of its operation.