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Posted By mark limon
My daughter is about to return to work after maternity leave.She is still breastfeeding.I know under 1999 regulations she has a right to breastfeed at work.While researching this I came across an employment tribunal ruling on the "Job Partnership" website that states this right has been lost since 2003.I find it strange that an employment tribunal could set aside legislation but this appears to be the case.I cant find any further information on this so if anyone has further information I would be grateful
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Posted By Descarte
Is this due to the fact you have a creche or other facilities on site?
If in Scotland and presumably there is a UK equivilant there was recently passed "The Breastfeeding Scotland Act 2005" but this mostly applies to public places of buildings open to the public
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Posted By Peter MacDonald
Can you clarify the work she does. I doubt very much she would have the right to have her baby at work to breastfeed. I believe that some suitable accomodation must be available to express and store milk though.
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Posted By Jim Walker
Mark,
I think you are assuming a "right" where one does not exist.
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Posted By Lilian McCartney
Guidance says facilities for expressing and storing milk. However, have known where baby close to work that childminder brought baby in for mum to feed, this was done at suitable 'breaks' in work as should expressing milk be.
I had to ask my own mum about how often expressing milk would need to be done (it's so much easier having pets)!
Answer was every 3 or 4 hours - though there could be times when more often.
Any mums out there with more info?
Hope this helps
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Posted By Stuart McPhaden
My wife has recently returned to work after the birth of our daughter. She is still breastfeeding and as required, suitable provision for expressing then storing the milk has been given. There are no crèche facilities available at her place of work so our baby is bottle fed expressed milk during the day. Not the way she wants it but babies need houses too and she has statutory maternity entitlement only.
It is at the employer’s discretion (HR issue) and dependant on suitable facilities being available whether actual feeding would be allowed (she was told).
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Posted By Mat
It gets worse!!!
keep the babies at home with the mother.
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Posted By Phillipe
I assume your comment was a joke? Not everyone has the luxury of being able to stay off work after having a child. The pressure of returning to work, financially for some is too great and they have no other option.
As one man to another I find your attitude rather sad.
Women should be encouraged to breastfeed and if they return to work this should not stand in their way. A small fridge in a first aid room locked away, what's the problem?
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Posted By Mat
Parental responsibility comes to mind, taking a child to work is just not on.
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Posted By Phillipe
I wasn't referring to bring babies into work, just your attitude that a woman should be in the home in the first place
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Posted By Mat
I suggest you make youself clear when responding to posts
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Posted By Breezy In order to break out of the rut that this discussion appears to have fallen into, take a look at the HSE Guidance available at: http://www.hse.gov.uk/pubns/indg373.pdfPages 5 and 9 are particularly instructive.
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Posted By Lilian McCartney
I wasn't meaning baby at work all the time.
I was referring to particular situations for baby and mum that the child being brought in (or up from/mum going to creche perhaps) works better, maybe problems expressing milk??
To have a valuable employee not returning to work (no matter what their position, job etc is) isn't that good for employers or employee.
As with everything, whether H&S or not, practical measures are the important facts and not someone abusing the system.
Having an employee who feels valued enough that their employer is willing to adapt situations must be good all round as well as for business.
Lilian
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Posted By Mat
Lillian, yes in an ideal world,
but can you say that an employee can carry out efficiently, duties they were employed and are being paid for, with the added distraction of the child in the workplace.
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Posted By mark limon
I and my daughter dont expect her to have the baby at work with her at all times but brought to work when hungry.Its an academic question now as her employer cant offer her suitable hours to enable her to continue in her job.She has to leave and claim benefits,something she didnt want to do.She works for a major supermarket chain in a large service station but the hours she wanted ie 4 till 10(her partner is home from work then) are not available.
Obviously a family friendly company!!!!.
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Posted By Merv Newman
This is a tricky and delicate situation. I think that, for an employer, it would be more effective to make some small arrangements so as to facilitate the early return to work of a valuable employee. Rather than to have to make temporary arrangements to replace that person.
This can be the simple provision of a private space to express milk (I have known this to be the HR manager's office who left the mother alone for the necessary time) to the coffee room with a note on the door "Knock or die !"
One company did allow mothers to bring the baby to work. Office environment. Not production. They were quite happy about the "loss" of productivity caused by feeding and nappy changing and just general cuddling and goo-goo-gooing. Mum was happy. Baby was happy (goo-goo-gooing shared by co-workers) and boss was happy 'cause mum was doing her usual efficient job.
No losers.
Just for the record, my latest baby was born in 1964 and is right now rattling away on the office PC behind my left ear.
Merv
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Posted By DJ
Mark,
One of the respondent's below has correctly identified the case as Williams v MOD, in which the court held that there was no "free-standing protection" in law for a breast-feeding mother beyond the period afforded by ordinary maternity leave.
The protection afforded to women following child-birth was limited either to the maternity leave period or to circumstances where health and safety issues arise.
As the former had passed and the latter was not considered in the Williams case, the Employment Tribunal's decision was set aside and a new hearing was ordered.
Nothing in the Williams case affects the rights of nursing mothers contrained in the Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999, although as has already been mentioned, these do not include an automatic right to a woman receiving time off to express milk or a requirement on the employer to provide suitable storage for that milk. These requirements are 'guidance' only and they will need to be assessed on a case by case basis.
I hope this helps.
Regards.
DJ
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