To think HR office should be better about breastfeeding mums

[Livingoffcoffee]

I've recently returned to work after mat leave and started at a new company, so don't have an existing relationship with the HR manager.
However, when I accepted the job offer I stated that I would be pumping and need a space to do so. All the meeting rooms in the office are glass, so the only private room is the HR managers office.

Most of the time she lets me use her office (though does make it clear it's an inconvenience for her). But more and more she is emailing me just before our agreed time to say she has meetings all day and her office isn't free. So now I'm sitting in the loos, pumping away.

AIBU to think that she should be better about this? And know that legally they are even required to provide a space for mums who are breastfeeding to lie down and rest if needed?

I don't want to get into a thing with her about it, but just feeling really annoyed that I'm being treated as an inconvenience for her when really she should know and be much more helpful.

If she says her office is busy then e-mail back asking what her solution is as legally they must accommodate you.

Ugh. I went through something similar. I was given the option of the first aid room, or the prayer room (!). It's really frustrating. YANBU.

You can't blame HER personally, it's not right she has to be turfed out of her office when you need it! It's also an interesting privacy and data safety issue, as she must have to lock all documents and her computer as pretty much there is confidential.

She could, and probably should, ask the office manager to find a more appropriate set up, but it's not always that easy.

I had the same situation with muslim colleagues who needed space to pray - they didn't even ask for it, but the only quiet place they were happy to use what completely inappropriate and they deserved better - it's actually tricky if you haven't got spare meeting rooms!

I was given the option of the first aid room
what's wrong with that? Or even the prayer room, if there's not conflicting schedule?

Forget HR. Speak to Facilities and request they find you alternative space. It's not down to HR to facilitate the space.

The loos aren’t good enough. A glass meeting room isn’t good enough. Legally, they have to accommodate you. If they can’t, you should take advice from ACAS or your union.

go to HR.... oh wait

Erm @Areyoufree if the first aid room is appropriate enough for medical treatment then it is fine for pumping.

Sorry, did you want an ensuite with a view?

Unless you strip naked to pump I don’t see the issue with the windows in the other available rooms

I did look into it and they're recommended but I couldn't find it's compulsory for them to provide a room

I ended up in the disable loos at the beginning until my supply reduced so nowadays I dont need to pump. we weren't in our own office but subletting in a coworking place where they didn't give a damm about my request.

The legal standard is clean, warm and private. Windowed rooms aren’t private.

My work was shit. DS though solved the problem by reverse cycling (feeding in the nighttime while I slept) and feeding other times when I was with him. I gave up pumping after 3 weeks but I fed for another 2 years. I don’t know if that is any help to you but it made my life much simpler not having to express at work.

m.acas.org.uk/media/3924/Accommodating-breastfeeding-employees-in-the-workplace/pdf/Acas-guide-on-accommodating-breastfeeding-in-the-workplace.pdf

The law doesn’t require an employer to grant paid breaks from a job in order to breastfeed or to express milk for storage and later use. Neither does it require an employer to provide facilities to breastfeed or express milk,

@Booksandwine80 They don't have windows- they are literally glass walls, so everyone sitting in the desks outside can see fully. I'm pretty free and easy...but that's quite a way to start a new job!

I don’t see the issue with the windows in the other available rooms

you might not, but most of us do! Privacy is a minimum requirement.

@Livingoffcoffee

I don’t see the issue, what’s on display when you pump?!

Erm @Areyoufree if the first aid room is appropriate enough for medical treatment then it is fine for pumping.

But it's not private - you can't lock the door, and it adjoins the security office. I wouldn't have been able to pump if people could come in and out - not being prudish, just that I found pumping very difficult, and let down only happened when I was relaxed.

Or even the prayer room, if there's not conflicting schedule?

There's no schedule though. People would go in to pray at regular intervals. It really didn't feel appropriate.

Ugh. Bold failure twice.

@Booksandwine80 my breasts? And maybe more, depending on what I'm wearing?

I don’t see the issue, what’s on display when you pump?!

It doesn’t matter. It’s a private act that many women find embarrassing.

It’s a recommendation, not a legal requirement. They would have to defend their decision not to provide a space if you claimed discrimination, but, if there isn’t one available, they’d win.

I'd go into a glass meeting room and either put a screen up and sit with my back to the glass wall or just be discrete - perhaps you could ask estates if they can put blinds up in 1 meeting room for such purposes

I wouldn't think the HR managers office was ok as it's too disruptive , there should be a. Alternative

@Livingoffcoffee

Ok then. Sounds like you just want it to be an issue to me when it really doesn’t need to be

Jammydodger1981

Not quite right. They would have to show they couldn’t have made one available without an unreasonable impact on their business.

Booksandwine80

That’s really not for you to say. The standard is that the room should be private.