ASSEMBLY COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT AND WOMEN'S AFFAIRS COMMITTEE

STATEMENT TO

ASSEMBLY, No. 4704

with committee amendments

STATE OF NEW JERSEY

DATED:  SEPTEMBER 10, 2026

      The Assembly Community Development and Women's Affairs Committee reports favorably and with committee amendments Assembly Bill No. 4704.

      This bill clarifies protections provided in the “Law Against Discrimination” to working mothers who are breastfeeding or expressing milk.

      As amended and reported, the bill provides that an employer is required to accommodate an employee who is breastfeeding or expressing milk for as long as the employee desires and such accommodation should include reasonable break time each day paid to the employee at the employee’s regular rate of compensation, in a suitable room or other location other than a restroom with privacy, free from the intrusion or view of another individual, with an electrical outlet and a place to sit, in close proximity to the work area, with running water, and refrigerated storage for the purpose of milk expression.

      As amended, the requirement that an employer provide a suitable room or other location other than a restroom for an employee who is breastfeeding or expressing milk would only apply to employers with 15 or more employees and not to remote workplaces, workplaces that are outdoors, or locations with less than 3,000 square feet of physical space.

COMMITTEE AMENDMENTS:

      The committee amended the bill to:

      1) expand the protections under the “Law Against Discrimination” to include working mothers who are also expressing milk;

      2) stipulate that an employer is required to accommodate an employee who is breastfeeding or expressing milk for as long as the employee desires;

      3) require that such accommodations  include reasonable break time each day paid to the employee at the employee’s regular rate of compensation and be in a suitable room or other location;

      4) specify that the suitable room or other location be a location that is other than a restroom, with privacy, free from the intrusion or view of another individual, with an electrical outlet and a place to sit, in close proximity to the work area, with running water, and refrigerated storage for the purpose of milk expression;

      5) clarify that “expressing milk” includes manually expressing milk; pumping milk; and breastfeeding, chestfeeding, bodyfeeding, or otherwise feeding milk from an individual’s body to their child;

      6) specify that the suitable room or other location accommodation requirement for an employee who is breastfeeding or expressing milk shall only apply to employers with 15 or more employees and not to remote workplaces, workplaces that are outdoors, or locations with less than 3,000 square feet of physical space; and

      7) amend the title and synopsis and make other technical corrections.