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Employers who provide a space where employees can express and store milk or breastfeed a baby quickly realize the benefits of doing so.<\/p>\nEmployers who provide a space where employees can express and store milk or breastfeed a baby quickly realize the benefits of doing so.<\/p>\n
According to the New Mexico Breastfeeding Task Force, employers who comply with state and federal laws requiring them to provide a clean and private space for\u00a0lactating mothers and to offer flexible break time so mothers can breastfeed or pump milk experience less absenteeism, lower health care costs and turnover rates, higher productivity and employee loyalty and positive community perception.<\/span><\/p>\n In other words, businesses that support breastfeeding employees are improving their own competitiveness and profitability.<\/p>\n \u201cAbsences due to infant illness occur twice as often among parents whose infants are not breastfed,\u201d the task force says on its website, Breastfeedingnm.org. That translates into dramatic reductions in employer health-care costs for infants who are breastfed.<\/p>\n There\u2019s evidence to back this assertion. The American Academy of Pediatricians\u2019 website notes that human milk provides not just nutrients but also \u201cmany substances that benefit (the) baby\u2019s immune system, including antibodies, immune factors, enzymes, and white blood cells,\u201d all of which protect against common childhood infections and other illnesses well beyond infancy.<\/p>\n The task force works to convince businesses that supporting a breastfeeding employee is well worth whatever temporary inconvenience it might cause and helps employers develop workable policies.<\/p>\n \u201cBusinesses tend to think it will be a bigger cost than it is,\u201d said Monica Esparza, task force program manager. Businesses don\u2019t have to carve out a new space for breastfeeding mothers, she noted. As long as they have a designated place, they comply with the law.<\/p>\n New Mexico state law is more comprehensive than federal law, according to Esparza. \u201cFederal law offers protection for hourly employees,\u201d she said, whereas, \u201cNew Mexico law doesn\u2019t specify hourly or salaried,\u201d so it applies to both.<\/p>\n The organization offers sample policies, printable handouts, and links to the laws that pertain to breastfeeding at work, including the federal Break Time for Nursing Mothers law, which applies to hourly employees covered by the Fair Labor Standards Act. More resources or solutions are available here<\/a><\/strong>.<\/p>\n For help establishing a successful lactation program, employers can contact the organization at (505) 395-6455 or\u00a0contact@breastfeedingnm.org.<\/a><\/p>\n By Finance New Mexico; Article 563<\/em><\/p>\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Employers who provide a space where employees can express and store milk or breastfeed a baby quickly realize the benefits of doing so. According to the New Mexico Breastfeeding Task Force, employers who comply with state and federal laws requiring … Continue reading ![\"\"](\"https:\/\/financenewmexico.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Breastfeeding-3-150x150.jpg\")
Laws aside, the task force encourages managers to talk with expectant mothers about how the business will support their desire to continue breastfeeding their babies when they return from maternity leave by:<\/p>\n\n