[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]
LAW LOVE TURNED INTO FOOD
[/vc_column_text][us_separator][vc_column_text]On September 27, 2022, the law called“Love Turned into Food Law for the Promotion, Protection and Support of Breastfeeding”;We must state that, to date, we do not know whether the President of the Republic has issued any observations or even sanctioned them. However, the key points of the new regulations are as follows:
- Guarantee of the right to breastfeed
In a position similar to that of the State, following the passage of the new law, employers and private organizations will be obligated to ensure the right to breastfeeding. To fulfill this obligation, employers must develop and establish programs, actions, and spaces aimed at informing and educating about breastfeeding.
- Lactation Rooms
In workplaces where there are women of childbearing age, pregnant women, and women who are breastfeeding, it will be mandatory to establish lactation rooms that meet minimum hygiene standards and ensure their operation. The latter is intended to ensure that nursing mothers who work in these companies, and even those who are breastfeeding, are provided with adequate room service.visit the company,have the opportunity to have a safe and comfortable place where they can breastfeed or express breast milk. The Ministry of Labor (MISAL) will be responsible for authorizing the establishment and entry of breastfeeding rooms, depending on the rooms we are now referring to. Among other things, it must maintain a registry of authorized rooms. Likewise, in conjunction with the Ministry of Labor, they will carry out surveillance procedures at the facilities to monitor the operation and maintenance of the rooms. The regulations of this Law will therefore establish the specific aspects of the installation and operation of breastfeeding rooms. It should be noted that failure to comply with this obligation or the legal requirements established for their operation will result in a serious offense that may be punishable by a fine of between 10 and 50 times the minimum wage in the commercial and service sector, and may also result in the closure of the workplace.
- Breastfeeding or milk pumping break as an employment benefit
Once maternity leave is over and up to six months postpartum, the employee is entitled to a one-hour daily break during their workday to breastfeed their child and collect milk. This break may be divided into two thirty-minute periods, at the discretion of the parties. Under no circumstances may it be replaced by a lunch break, rest break, or other physiological need. In exceptional cases where the employee's workday exceeds eight hours, they are entitled to a second break—an additional one hour—which may also be divided. These breaks will be counted as actual working time, meaning they will be paid as such. Once the six-month postpartum period is over, the nursing mother may use the lactation rooms to express or store milk during regular meal or rest breaks. Any type of improper noncompliance, obstruction, or restriction of this employment service constitutes a serious infraction, punishable by a fine of between 10 and 50 times the minimum wage in the commerce and services sector, and may also result in the closure of the establishment. The Ministry of Labor will be responsible for supervising and verifying compliance with these obligations, and the imposition of sanctions will be the responsibility of the Department of Nutrition, a department of the Ministry of Health. This law will enter into force 180 days after its publication in the Official Gazette. From that moment on, it will be mandatory to guarantee the right to breastfeed and to grant breaks for breastfeeding or expressing milk. For its part, the installation and start-up of the Breastfeeding Room will be required 90 days after the regulations of the law to which we have now referred have come into force. [/vc_column_text] [us_separator] [vc_column_text] Written by: Lic. Valeria García [/vc_column_text] [/vc_column] [/vc_row]
