The college has created a Privacy Room on each ACC Campus that supports special needs of employees. Providing a private room for employees who are lactating mothers to express milk is a legal requirement. While not required by law to do so, the college also desires to serve other employees who may have special medical privacy needs. One room on each campus has been designated as a Privacy Room to serve the dual purpose of providing privacy for nursing mothers and privacy for employees with special medical privacy needs. However, the first priority for use of the designated room is for nursing mothers.

The Providing Urgent Maternal Protections of Nursing Mothers Act (PUMP Act) requires an employee notify the college if they believe the college is out of compliance in providing breaks for a nursing mother. The employee must give the college 10 days to come into compliance before making any claim of liability against the district. An employee with concerns should contact HR Benefits @ [email protected],                                              or call Alisol Martinez, Interim Benefits Manager, at 512223-7800.

The Privacy Room guidelines are as follows:

A. Privacy for Nursing Mothers

• The Privacy Room provides privacy for an employee to express milk. The employee may use the room for a period of one year from the birth of a child.
  • A private room has been set aside on each campus.
  • All employees, including hourly employees, may request use of the room for the
    purpose of expressing milk. Hourly employees will be approved on a semester-by-semester basis.
  • The employee must complete the Confidential Privacy Room Key Request form and provide a proposed daily schedule to the Campus Manager’s Office on her campus.
  • Upon approval of the request, the employee will receive a key for use of the Privacy
    Room.
  • The Campus Manager’s Office will notify the supervisor of the employee’s schedule
    for use of the room.
  • Employees are expected to complete their usual work schedule and assignments
    while taking reasonable time off for expressing milk.
  • The employee may use the room only during the time designated on the approved
    schedule unless, under special circumstances, the Campus Manager authorizes an alternative time for use on a single-day basis. If a permanent change in schedule is needed, the employee must submit a new proposed schedule to the Campus Manager.
  • When the employee reaches the end date for use of the Privacy Room, the key must
    be returned to the Campus Manager’s Office.
• While an employee is using the Privacy Room, there must be absolute privacy, and no one else shall have access to the room. The rooms have a “privacy” and “occupied” sign to ensure complete privacy.
• An employee should be granted reasonable time to use the Privacy Room. If an employee’s use of the room is unreasonable, the supervisor should discuss the schedule and the impact on operations with the employee,

B. Medical Needs

• While there is no requirement for the College to provide a Privacy Room for medical purposes, the college will authorize the use of the Privacy Room for a medical need on a pre-approved basis
  • An employee may request use of a Privacy Room for a medical need by completing the Confidential Privacy Room Key Request form and submitting it to the Campus Manager’s Office. Simultaneously, the employee must contact HR Benefits and complete a Medical Privacy Needs verification form from the treating physician certifying the need for privacy and specifying the duration of time. Both forms must be submitted before the request will be approved,
  • Upon approval, the Campus Manager will schedule a time for the employee to use
    the Privacy Room and will issue a key to the employee.
  • Once a schedule has been approved, HR Benefits will notify the supervisor of the
    schedule. All information will be kept confidential.
  • The Privacy Room may be used only to attend to a short-term medical need. The room may not be used for employees who become ill on campus or for a general illness. There must be a need for privacy and a short-term medical need (such as injections) as certified by a treating health professional.
  • All medical paraphernalia, if any, must be disposed of properly, and the Privacy
    Room left in neat condition,
  • When the employee reaches the end date for use of the Privacy Room, the key must
    be returned to the Campus Manager’s Office.

If an employee has a severe illness that affects the ability to perform job duties, the employee should contact HR Benefits, 223-7800 and explore the Americans with Disabilities (ADA) policy or the Family Medical Leave Act (FMLA) policy. Information on both of these policies and procedures is on the ACC Human Resources website.

If you have any questions about the process, contact Wayne Maines, Vice Chancellor, Safety & Operations, 223-7600 or Human Resources at 223–7572.

Connect with other ACC Nursing Mothers

If you would like to join in conversation with other nursing mothers at ACC, please join our Google Group – https://groups.google.com/a/austincc.edu/d/forum/nursingmothers

Where are the Rooms? See the chart below and click on Campus Administration to view the information necessary to reserve your rooms today.