CONGRESS OF THE PHILIPPINES
SIXTEENTH CONGRESS
First Regular Session

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HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
House Bill No.. 2

Introduced by Representatives
GLORIA MACAPAGAL ARROYO and DIOSDADO MACAPAGAL ARROYO.

EXPLANATORY NOTE

The World Health Organization of the United Nations strongly recommends
exclusive breastfeeding for babies during the first six months of life and for
breastfeeding to be supplemented with solid foods until the age of two. This is
the healthiest option that can effectively reduce infant mortality and
malnutrition.

While the Department of Health has actively endorsed this stance, strong
support from working nursing mothers is yet to be gained. Most women cease
breastfeeding their infants after returning to work because of lack of employer
encouragement for the time and privacy to pump, difficulty storing and
transporting milk, low milk supply, and personal exhaustion.

This bill promotes breastfeeding practices. It encourages women to
continue nursing their infants by institutionalizing an employee lactation support
program where lactation stations are established in workplaces and giving them
ample breaks and the privacy to express breast milk for their infants.

Immediate approval of this bill is earnestly requested.

GLORIA oo ARROYO DIOSDAD\ ‘APAGAL ARROYO

Representative, 2" District, Pampanga Representative, 2" District, Camarines Sur


CONGRESS OF THE PHILIPPINES
SIXTEENTH CONGRESS
First Regular Session

HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
House Bill No. 2

Introduced by Representatives
GLORIA MACAPAGAL ARROYO and DIOSDADO MACAPAGAL ARROYO.
AN ACT ESTABLISHING AND MAINTAINING LACTATION STATIONS IN
WORKPLACES AND FOR OTHER PURPOSES

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the Philippines
in Congress assembled:

SECTION 1. Short Title. - This Act shall be known as the “Workplace
Lactation Act of 2013”.

SEC. 2. Declaration of Policy. - It is the declared policy of the State to
protect and promote the right to health of the people and instill health
consciousness among them, to protect the rights of workers and promote their
welfare, and to defend the right of children to assistance including proper care
and nutrition. Section 14, Article Xill of the 1987 Philippine Constitution provides
that “the State shall protect working women by providing safe and healthful
working conditions, taking into account their welfare and enable them to realize
their full potential in the service of the nation”. This is consistent with
international treaties and conventions to which the Philippines is a signatory, such
as the Convention in the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW)
which emphasizes the provision of necessary social support services to enable
parents to combine family obligations with work responsibilities, the Beijing
Platform for Action whose strategic objective is to promote harmonization of
work and family responsibilities for women and men, and the Convention on the
Rights of the Child which recognizes a child’s inherent right to life and the State’s
obligation to ensure the child’s survival and development.

Towards this end, the State shall promote and encourage breastfeeding
and provide the specific measures that would allow mothers to continue to
breastfeed their infants.

SEC. 3. Definition of Terms. - For purposes of this Act, the following terms
are hereby defined:


(a) “Nursing employee” refers to any female worker, regardless of
working status, who is breastfeeding her infant.

(b) “Workplace” refers to the office, premises or work site where the
nursing female employees are habitually employed, whether in private
enterprises or government agencies, including their subdivisions and
instrumentalities, and government-owned and —controlled corporations.

(c) “Express” refers to the act of extracting milk from the breast by hand
or by pump into a container.

(d) “Lactation station” refers to a private, sanitary and well-ventilated
room or area situated in the workplace where a nursing employee can wash up,
express her milk comfortably and store this afterwards.

SEC. 4. Establishment of Lactation Stations. - A lactation station shall be
established in every workplace for the use of its nursing employees. It shall be
located in a private and clean area which must be furnished with comfortable
seats, lavatory for hand-washing and a refrigerator exclusively for storing
expressed breast milk. No lactation station shall be situated inside a toilet or
comfort room.

The display of advertisement on milk formulas for infants and babies aged
zero (0) to three (3) years old shall not be allowed within the workplace premises
where a lactation station has been set up.

All private enterprises and government entities shall establish lactation
stations within six (6) months after the approval of this Act or within the first six
(6) moths of operation of the enterprise or entity.

SEC. 5. Lactation Periods. - \n addition to the regular time-off for meals,
the nursing employee shall be granted break intervals totaling thirty (30) minutes
within an eight (8)-hour working period to express her milk. This break period,
including the time it takes the employee to get to and from the workplace
lactation station, shall be counted as compensable hours worked.

SEC. 6. Coverage and Exemptions. - All private enterprises and
government agencies, including their subdivisions and instrumentalities, and
government-owned and —controlled corporations shall be covered by this Act.

Upon application, and as determined by the Secretary of the Department of
Labor and Employment (DOLE), in the case of the private sector, and the
Chairperson of the Civil Service Commission (CSC), in the case of the public sector,
an entity may be exempted from Section 4 of this Act under the following
conditions:


(a) Where the number of women employees who are of childbearing
age or those between the ages of sixteen (16) to forty-five (45) years old is less
than ten (10); and

(b) Where the establishment of lactation stations is not feasible or
necessary due to the peculiar circumstances of the workplace or its employee
composition. For example, when the nature of work requires female employees
to be deployed out in the field or outside of the company premises such as those
performed by medical representatives, street sweepers or plantation workers and
other similar situations.

SEC. 7. Incentives. - The expenses incurred by private enterprises or
entities in complying with Sections 4 and 5 hereof and in maintaining the lactation
stations shall be allowed as deductible expenses for income tax purposes;
Provided, That the deduction shall only apply for the taxable period where the
expenses were incurred: Provided, further, That such enterprises or entities shall
secure an accreditation certificate from the DOLE, to be filed with the Bureau of
Internal Revenue before they can avail of the incentive.

SEC. 8. Funding. - Government agencies, including their subdivisions and
instrumentalities, shall use their respective budgets for gender and development
or their budgets for repairs, maintenance and materials acquisition to comply
with Section 4 hereof.

SEC. 9. Breastfeeding Information and Education in the Workplace. - The
DOLE and its attached agencies, as well as the CSC, shall include breastfeeding
awareness and promotion in all their education-related programs.

SEC. 10. Penalty Clause. - Any person, corporation, enterprise, association
or entity which violates any provision of this Act shall be punished by a fine of not
less than Ten thousand pesos (P10,000.00) but not more than Fifty thousand
pesos (P50,000.00): Provided, That if the violation is committed by a private
entity, the penalty of imprisonment of not less than one (1) month but not more
than one (1) year shall be imposed on the entity’s responsible officers including,
but not limited to, the president, vice president, chief executive officer, general
manager, managing director or partner:

Provided, further, That if the violation is committed by a government entity,
the highest official of that agency shall be held liable without prejudice to any
further liability for violation of any provision of other applicable laws.

SEC. 11. Implementing Rules and Regulations. - The DOLE and the CSC, in
coordination with the Department of Health, shall issue, within sixty (60) days

3


after the effectivity of this Act, the rules and regulations for its effective
implementation among their respective constitutencies.

SEC. 12. Separability Clause. - If, for any reason, any section or provision
of this Act is held unconstitutional or invalid, the other sections or provisions
hereof shall not be affected thereby and shall continue to be full force and effect.

SEC. 13. Repealing Clause. - All laws, decrees, executive orders, rules and
regulations or parts thereof inconsistent with the provisions of this Act are hereby
repealed or modified accordingly.

SEC. 14. Effectivity Clause. - This Act shall take effect fifteen (15) days
from its publication in the Official Gazette or in at least two (2) national

newspapers of general circulation.

Approved,