Breastfeeding rights at work - please clarify for me please! I start in 3 days!

I never saw this thread but that’s quite incredible!

Why did she think anyone ever went back full time??

You’re only working for 6 hours. Can’t you feed before you go, when you come home a solid meal in between?

If you have a car (you're planning to feed in the car), and live only a 4 min walk away, would you not just drive home on your break and feed your baby there? No need to involve work at all

Yes but why not pump? You’re very entitled.

I agree. I also suspect that this poster was an established employee who had been in the job pre-maternity, and the employer knew her and wanted to keep her, rather than a brand new employee on a zero hours contract.

Would anyone be able to find a link for this one? I'm still annoyed at the woman who brought her noisy toddler to a class where we were doing final presentations. I have no idea what our professor was thinking giving that the ok.

The issue thinks she is entitled to two breaks in six hours, one per her baby and one for her. Whereas the pragmatic reality for most women expressing at work is that it’s done as part of break.

This sounds lovely and good on them, but I’d be surprised if it’s the law.

This is what I’d have thought, although I’m no expert.

I’ve never heard of you being entitled to an additional break to breastfeed as well as the standard break “for you”. Surely breastfeeding is just what you’ve chosen to do with your break?

Yes to the private space obviously but I’ve never heard of an additional break being required, esp as your baby is 10.5 months already.

Prizes if you can link it…. I thought this thread as golden, but I feel a new level of entertainment ahead if this thread can be found!!

OP, my baby was brought to me at my office for breastfeeds when I returned to work. I was paid for these breaks and didn't have to make up the time or forfeit my lunch break so it's not completely unheard of. It made returning to work much easier for me as my baby never took a bottle. My employer was happy to do it to support my return to work. I guess it all depends how family friendly the employer is and the nature of the work but I think it's sad if any woman has to give up breastfeeding before her and her baby is ready, or has difficulty continuing, because her work can't support it well. I would talk to them about what you'd ideally need to happen to support your breastfeeding and just see what they say. They may be able to offer more or not but you will know where you stand.

I don’t see the issue in expecting you to use your break. Must admit I have never heard of people being given time to breastfeed a baby at work. Most express and that’s used by the child carer

It is only OP who has mentioned feeding in a car park.

Everyone else has talked about being given a private space to BF (though actually the legal right is space to express or for a BF mother to rest, not have baby in to feed) but not paid time.

Maybe you need to specify how long you think you will need as a break? I don't think my babies would have been only a 5 minute feed at that age, and the manager may have no idea if you are talking about an hour or 5 minutes.

Oh but of course you can bring your screaming baby into lectures to disrupt absolutely everyone. You'll probably have to leave the room every 10 minutes to deal with the baby but that's okay!

I’d like to see you tell my 10.5 month old that! 3 - 4 nursing sessions is still average at 10.5 months but some will need more and others less. Mine has severe reflux so drinks little and often and restricting him to morning or night wouldn’t be fair on him.

I don’t think paid breaks are typical OP but I do think my employer will give me one based on what they’ve done in the past so worth clarifying.

OP I think you’ve gotten confused with time to pump, you get time to pump at work but not breastfeed, if you want to breastfeed a bit more during the day then you need to stay on mat leave for the full year.

It would not be acceptable to be expected to feed or pump in a toilet or car park. There was a successful case at tribunal where this was deemed to be harassment on grounds of sex.
OP there are lots on here giving opinions with no facts. Please contact your union or ACAS to get clear advice on what you're legally entitled to. Best of luck!

It reminds me of the current one with the woman who wants to bring her newborn baby to university lectures.

I agree asking for two breaks in six hours is excessive.

I have 4 DC, each was breastfed till over 2 years and I went back to work at 6 months (part time) with each of them, with work days longer than 6 hours. I expressed for comfort, they drank the milk I expressed during the day (or not, they generally preferred from the original package) and fed well when they were home.

I also agree with a PP saying your baby coming in to feed will be longer than you think.

Contact The Association of Breastfeeding Mothers for clarification @carrie3003 much better than getting random personal opinions from people on here who just don't get it.

I would expect you to be allowed to express when you needed (within reason), but not have your child brought to work for feeds at all. That has major implications for you employer: firstly, unless you are in a company where your breaks are all at very specified times for a particular amount of time, I wouldn't expect you to always have to stop at precisely one time because your child was arriving. Secondly, insurance for children is different for adults, and potentially insurance for adult employees is different for other adults. The business won't necessarily have insurance for these groups, so while they should let you express on the premises, your baby coming in with another adult might, quite rightly, be a hard no. Also actually feeding a baby tends to take longer than expressing. A good breast pump will go at a steady pace, not fuss or get wind half way through, so your break will be a very regular length. Breaks to feed baby could vary quite a lot. I think you need to get baby drinking expressed milk from a bottle before you return to work, then express during one work day to get bottles for the next. This should keep your milk supply steady, and make sure baby has enough milk. If you are doing all the evening/night/early morning feeds yourself, baby should be fine with mixed bottle/breast teats!

You actually aren't legally entitled to a break working 6 hours. It's anything over 6 hours you are legally entitled to a 20 minute rest period (unpaid).

However you are entitled to a private place and the ability to pump/feed if needed. So them offering to give you a break to do so (presumably unpaid, or making the time up at the end) is all they need to do.

You definitely aren't entitled to two breaks, as if you weren't breastfeeding you wouldn't qualify for a break anyway, from a strictly legal perspective.

Can you not negotiate an earlier finish or start time? Or bank hours of 5:45 so that you get your paid break for you and your unpaid breastfeeding break for baby?

I get also that it doesn’t seem to be much point in expressing when they are just round the corner but may also be a good time to start weaning baby off the boob and keep it for morning /night and have the expressed breast milk in a sippy cup

Wrong re solids/milk. WHO and NHS would staunchly disagree.