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

[carrie3003]

Returning to work part time after 10.5 months mat leave. Breastfeeding.

It is a new job (bank hours so 0 hour contract I can work when I like). Not worked there before.

First shift and induction is on Friday morning for 6 hours - a 20 minute break.

I have emailed and said my baby will be brought to me around 10/11am for a feed. (I read online that you need to tell your employer in writing you’re breastfeeding so that’s why I emailed)

They have just emailed back:

“That’s fine, we can look to work your break around that time if that’s ok with you”

I don’t have to use my break for this do I?
Surely as a breastfeeding mother I am entitled to my full break for me and a 10 minute breastfeeding “break” for my baby?
They can’t make me use my break to breastfeed can they?

What do I reply? It’s really shocked me as I thought she would just reply saying “yeah that’s fine”

Please tell me I’m not mad. AIBU? I need clarification on my rights and what to say back.

Not keen on returning to work as it is and now this has pushed me even more to just not go!

Thank you in advance lovely ladies xx

Where has it said employers have to pay for BF?

This is what I thought.

I'm now at the point that I don't care.
All I was trying to do was suggest that women should be able ti breastfeed wherever they want.
In the last hour I've had so many hate messages wishing me nothing but ill-will.
You win. (Bullies always do!)

Wow if my work had given extra breaks for breastfeeding I would of breastfed all my kids until they where 12

Does it really only take you five or at most ten minutes to walk out to the car park, get settled with baby, feed, walk back?

I think that’s really really underestimating.

I think they’re quite accommodating to be flexible around timing of your break in a short shift like this.

I would totally expect to do this in my break. You can eat at the same time

Agree.
I feel that you are being unfairly critical of your interpretation of the response OP.
They are showing willing to meet your request.
In my professional working life, there have been significant changes in availability of rooms for expressing breast milk but to expect to be able to bf your baby at work is totally unreasonable

So are you saying all these countries are being unreasonable to give women a legal right to (long) breaks for breastfeeding?

Switzerland
Labour law protects breastfeeding during first year of life. Time spent breastfeeding or expressing milk is counted as paid working time.
Poland
Mothers working ≥4 hours/day are entitled to paid breastfeeding breaks. 1 × 30 min (if working 4–6 hrs) or 2 × 30 min (if >6 hrs). For twins or more, 45 minutes per break. No legal age limit for child; breaks count as paid working time.
Estonia
Additional breaks for breastfeeding: up to 30 minutes every 3 hours, until child is 1.5 years old; if feeding more than one child at that age, break duration is longer. These breaks count as part of working hours.
Norway
Mothers are entitled to a 1‑hour paid break daily for breastfeeding; in public sector sometimes 2 hours.
Belgium
There is detailed legislation (Labour law and collective agreements) for breastfeeding breaks. The breaks are paid (by national health insurance) at a rate similar to maternity leave.
China, Japan, South Korea, Vietnam, Philippines
Provide rights for workplace nursing breaks; many are paid. For example, China, Japan, South Korea and Vietnam have ~60‑minute daily breaks; the Philippines ~40 minutes.

This is what I think as well - 5min is likely a feed at home when the baby wants it. Whereas someone driving the baby means texts or calls about exact arrival times, where they are in car park, leaving work, trying to get a baby who’s more interested in looking out the window to latch, waking up a baby who’s has fallen asleep in car… lots of faff.

Blimey, I’ve always wondered if Mumsnet was just where Human Resources managers went to hang out when they’re meant to be working and this thread has done nothing to dissuade me of that conviction.

As another poster has said, the comments here are quite frankly vile.

Entitled? How many of the people posting here would have been against maternity leave before that was written into law? By the looks of things quite a few of you.

You should be ashamed of yourselves.

No you didn’t. You said they were entitled to feed their baby wherever and whenever they want. And they aren’t. Not in the workplace. You were wrong.

This.

Op may not know you only need 5mins. I would assume it’s about half an hour

Someone is completely wrong and it’s not OP’s employer…

The OP made her post asking for “clarification of her rights”. This is what she has been given. She, you and others may not like the rights she currently has but nevertheless this is what they are. That doesn’t make the people providing this clarification “petty”.

If the baby is on solids, they are breastfed for nourishment not hunger so don't really need to be brought in mid-shift. However, if you want them to, I think it would have go be done in your break. It's a bit entitled to expect them to give you an extra break.

You shouldn't be breastfeeding in the toilet.

Ask your employer for a risk assessment that covers the risks to your health, including the risk of engorgement, mastitis and the consequence of abscesses forming if mastitis is prolonged, untreated or repetitive.

They should provide you somewher to rest, and somewhere to express. They may extend this to allowing you to feed your baby in that area.

Also if you only get one rest break, consider how you'll be able to use the toilet and how that will impact your health too if you're declined the opportunity to use them.

They don't have to provide you additional breaks, although considerate employers may offer extended breaks, additional breaks, and flexible start and finish times.

I had a battle with my employers as my son was allergic to quite a lot of things, wouldn't take a lot of solids (diagnosed autistic later on, definitely had sensory issues from a young age) and his allergy team advised I continue breastfeeding as much as he wants for as long as possible until we'd managed his allergies. I also had an oversupply because of unpredictable feeding patterns and times, and kept getting mastitis, which affected my absence levels.

It sucks because the law isn't really on the side of breastfeeding, but you can play to their duty to keep you safe in the workplace.

I agree. I have never heard of this but all that would happen in my work is that all my other staff would be asking for extra equivalent break time otherwise it’s discrimination because they aren’t breastfeeding? Also; what are the logistics surrounding the baby being brought in and where you meet the person and where do they wait? We are a small office and this in itself would be quite disruptive. Also to the person saying ‘they are mean and have shown you who they are’ is honestly the most ridiculous overreaction. It’s a minefield employing staff as is it and now I feel like I’ve heard it all……..until next week 🤦‍♀️

Your employer is legally obliged to give you breaks and facilities to bf at work, but these do not need to be paid. Sounds like they are bribg very supportive! NCT guidance

It is interesting to see this but how does that work in these countries for jobs like pilot, surgeon, bus driver, nursery nurse etc.

No one is bullying you. They are pointing out that you are wrong. You were asked to provide evidence but you can't.
Pointing that out is not bullying. From what we can see the law says they have to provide a space. It does not say they are entitled to breastfeed whenever they want. It does not say they are entitled to paid breaks for it.
Don't give advice if you don't have the facts.

There is no way in hell my employer would let me bring my baby into work to feed.

i understand the comparison but rights to paid BF at work in other countries need to be weighed against paid maternity leave. the paid allowance varies for many of these countries and some are less generous than the UK....wouldnt we all love to be in Norway and get 100% of pay for 49 wks, how many women would want to return to work earlier?! i would far rather employers paid decent wages during maternity leave that allowed more women to stay for longer at home with their babies, particularly during the period where breast milk is crucial to their well being, rather than campaign for women being paid to feed older ,weaned babies ,who could fairly easily work their feeding schedule around their working day. There are many women who are still discriminated against solely for getting pregnant and i think this is what is prompting some of the "entitlement" comments as women understand how hard it can be to balance that family v. work life and still get taken seriously be employers. As most of us who have settled a baby into nursery will also attest. your baby seeing you for 10 mins or so and then being taken away again may well cause distress for both you and the baby!

So who pays for all this, taxes? The companies themselves or governments do it all for free with no knock affect involving something else to balance it out somewhere else?

It’s neither “bullying” nor “hate” to disagree with someone and say their assertions are incorrect.

You’ll struggle a lot in life if you perceive every disagreement as highly personal and call it “hate speech”.

ETA : and you assertion wasn’t that breastfeeding women should be able to breastfeed whenever they wanted to in the workplace. Your assertion was that this was already an established legal entitlement, which it isn’t.