Work expect me to pump breastmilk in the toilet

[seaborgium]

I’m at the end of my maternity leave. DH has just left his job and the plan is for me to go back to work while DH looks for work elsewhere. If DH finds something decent then I will go back to staying at home, otherwise I will carry on working while he stays at home.

My work have agreed to let me take extra breaks to pump breastmilk and to let me use the office fridge but they can’t provide me with a room. I jog to work so I can’t pump in the car. The toilets at work have hand dryers and I really can’t stand the noise of hand dryers. DS (7mo) is taking to solids really well but he’s still nursing every hour so dashing home every time he needs a feed is not practical.

I have worked at my job for three years averaging 35 hours per week but I’m still agency and I’m still on a temporary contract so I don’t really have much bargaining power. I’m in the UK by the way.

I would speak to Pregnant then Screwed, they might have some advice about rights etc.

Toilets is a piss poor option. They dont need to turn a room over to you permanently, but surely they can make some sort of space available to you once or twice a day.

Can you think of anywhere in your workplace that you could suggest? A meeting or interview room that could be reserved each day for 20mins a time? Anyone got their own office but spends time wfh or out on site visits?

If I had my own office at work I'd happily swap desks for short periods to facilitate this - our computer systems are very good at instantly pulling your desktop onto a new PC.

Yanbu to not want to use the toilet even without the hand dryer issue.

If they wouldn't suggest it as a place for someone to make a sandwich then they shouldn't be suggesting it as a place to make your childs meal.

www.hse.gov.uk/mothers/employer/rest-breastfeeding-at-work.htm apparently no legal obligation to provide a place to express but certainly a toilet isn't appropriate. They should provide a place for you to rest though.

Is there really no other room, or even the disabled toilet so the hand dryers aren’t going off?

I am not an employment law specialist so you may want to contact an organisation like Maternity Action or ACAS.

You may have employment law rights than you think. Some relating to discrimination it doesn’t matter how long you have been an employee and the fact it is temporary contract would not matter. If you have been employed by the same employer for two years (might be the agency not the place you work) you can get normal employment law rights anyway.

maternityaction.org.uk/advice/continuing-to-breastfeed-when-you-return-to-work/

They also have to provide a separate fridge, not all offices have places but they do have to do what they can - a comfortable chair, a lockable fridge and a private space. In my office I blocked out a meeting room and installed blinds and in use signs and small fridges with locks on for people to express. A toilet is unhygienic to express in and you definitely need to challenge your workplace on this - speak to your H&S manager as it should fall under their remit

This makes me really angry! Would they like to cook or eat their lunch in the toilet?
Surely someone has an office that they can let you use. Even if a makeshift partition is put up in the corner of a room, anything really, but not the toilet.

If you jog to work there must be showers which makes me think there must be changing rooms? Even that would be better than the toilet.

Ridiculous. Where would you even sit. They will have to do better.

Meeting room or tell them it will be at your desk!!

Do they have a first aid room or
Prayer room ? Controversial use of the multi faith room at our offices.

@HermioneWeasley

Is there really no other room, or even the disabled toilet so the hand dryers aren’t going off?

Eh no that's not what disabled toilets are for!

A lot places have a medical room. They can’t expect you to use the toilet!

This feels like a situation where you need to know exactly what your rights are as an agency worker. I'm pretty sure it's illegal to prevent a woman from breastfeeding wherever she wants so it'd be worth looking up to see if the same applies to pumping. This is a pretty obvious example of sex discrimination so I'd definitely speak to a professional and find out what your rights are.

Maybe you can ask the boss how would he like his lunch being cooked/prepared in the toilet. (Apologies if I offended someone by assuming the boss is a man 😏😏).

Do you have a medical room?

There are no showers or disabled toilets. I don't think there is a medical room but there are two small offices at the back which are unoccupied for part of the day.

I would literally just pump at my desk but I am petty.

Update:

I have just been told that I am not booked for tomorrow. This is the third day in a row that they have told me that there is no work so I have yet to work a single day since ‘coming back’ from maternity. Before I went on maternity there would be the odd day when the work went quiet and the agency asked me not to come in, but three days in a row is looking suspicious.

Because I am agency there is no legal obligation for my employer to provide me with work.