what are the guidelines for returning to work as a BF mother?

[Booyhoo]

i am visiting my new manager tomorrow as i start back in 4 weeks. it is to have a chat about my hours/days and what training i might need. i also want to be able to express while at work if i am going to be working full days but i dont know what the law/guidelines for employers are. i am in northern ireland so i am not sure if it is different from mainland. can anyone help?

[[http://www.maternityaction.org.uk/workingparents.html] gives useful advice.

They should give you somewhere private (not the loo's!) to express.

let's try the link again!

www.maternityaction.org.uk/workingparents.html

Hi
my understanding is that your employer MUST provide somewhere private with a fridge for you to express (not a toilet!). I see that it doesn't cover your RIGHTS in that helpful link. You might want to have a look on the "return to work" topic, I am sure this is where I have learned all this sort of stuff from.

p.s. being from NI myself (but not living there), I hope you don't get a confused response from your employer...my experience is that they're still a bit clueless about BF in general

thank you both. yes i am quite confused about whether these are laws or just recomendations and also whether they apply to NI the same as the rest of the UK.

i think i will google it specifically for NI and see if there is anything to clarify.

Hope your meeting goes well today. I found I really didn't have to stamp my foot to get the space and fridge I needed. Just an email to HR to say I inteded to express and the necessary facilities were provided without any problems. This enabled me to exclusively breastfeed until 6 months, and keep going with epxressing until I got fed up with it at about 11 and a half months...