Existing law establishes various employment protections to promote parent-infant bonds and infant health. The Moore-Brown-Roberti Family Rights Act, or California Family Rights Act, makes it an unlawful employment practice for an employer, as defined, to refuse to grant a request by an eligible employee to take up to 12 workweeks of unpaid protected leave during any 12-month period to care for a child born to, adopted by, or placed for foster care with, the employee. The New Parent Leave Act prohibits an employer, as defined, from refusing to allow eligible employees to take up to 12 weeks of parental leave to bond with a new child within one year of the child’s birth, adoption, or foster care placement. Other existing law requires both public and private employers to provide accommodations for maternal lactation, including a reasonable amount of break time to employees desiring to express breast milk and a reasonable effort to provide the employee use of a room or other location in close proximity to the employees’ work area for that purpose.

This bill, until January 1, 2020, would authorize a state agency, as defined, to adopt an Infant at Work program to allow an employee of the agency who is a new parent or caregiver to an infant to bring the infant to the workplace. The bill would establish certain required elements for such a program. The bill would authorize a state agency to adopt regulations that it determines necessary to establish the program. The bill would prohibit a state agency from adopting the program in circumstances that are inappropriate based on safety, health, or other concerns for the infant or adult, as specified.