New Rules About Breast Pumps at Work

[didymus]

NY Times:

And a workable space? The United States Breastfeeding Committee, a nonprofit coalition of 40 organizations, has weighed in with some suggestions, many of which are already in use in the 24 states that have laws protecting breast-feeding workers:
Designated, permanent space, at least 4 by 6 feet with a chair, sink and electrical outlet.

Space designated with a sign or reserved on a calendar that rotates throughout the workspace between offices, conference rooms, clinic rooms, etc.

Temporary use of manager office space in fast-food restaurants, police departments or settings that lack other spaces with a locking door.

A curtained-off area that is nonaccessible to the public and meets privacy threshold because of clear, well-communicated policy with co-workers. This can even mean a chair behind a curtain in an employee-only bathroom lounge, if there is truly no other space available.

A designated space that serves employees from several employers, located in the employee-only areas of malls, airports and retail strips.
An agreement between work sites, where a breastfeeding employee can visit a neighboring business to access a designated space within.

Privacy panels to block the windows of work vehicles such as patrol cars or construction vehicles on the road.

Use of city or county buildings by public employees on route, such as police on patrol, bus drivers or meter readers.

Okay, we’ve had discussions of minimum wage, which I don’t have a problem with though many others here do.

But requiring employers to provide parental leave and accommodate nursing mothers?
Yes, I know many mothers don’t have any choice but to work or go on welfare but employers already have to make allowances for them (absences due to child illness, e.g.). These requirements can only make them more disincline to hire mothers (or young women).

 

[Newbie2]

Exactly.

Depending on the State, I think, an employer may not be able to directly ask if someone is expecting children or has children at home that might need some sort of care.

A clever employer know what questions to ask, though, to find out…such as: “Do you have any obligations outside of work that might cause you to miss work, come in late, etc?”

Anyway, I guess it depends on the size of the business how much they’d be affected. A small business such as mine in a strip mall simply doesn’t have the room for a dedicated “feeding area”…heck, we don’t even have space for the employees to eat.

Larger offices might have a spare closet or room that they can use for such a purpose.

However, someday there is going to be a tipping of the scale where businesses are just going to throw up their hands and close down or scale down if too many “worker’s rights” are mandated.

How are employers supposed to run a business when they don’t have productive employees present and working? Sure, maternity leave is fine, but someone else has to take up the slack of mom not being there. Large businesses have more cushion to make up for the lost productivity, but small ones cannot afford it.

That being said, you’d think there would be some sort of compromise short of mandating longer and longer maternity leaves, some for the dad too. If it keeps going like this, these leaves will be paid through the time the kid goes off to school!

 

[jilly4ski]

NY Times:

Okay, we’ve had discussions of minimum wage, which I don’t have a problem with though many others here do.

But requiring employers to provide parental leave and accommodate nursing mothers?
Yes, I know many mothers don’t have any choice but to work or go on welfare but employers already have to make allowances for them (absences due to child illness, e.g.). These requirements can only make them more disincline to hire mothers (or young women).

So either a woman has to choose between her family and her job because her employer doesn’t allow for pumping or women shouldn’t get jobs in the first place because they are too expensive to hire?

I personally don’t think this is much of a dilemma, I think employers should make provisions for breastfeeding women, and they will continue to employ women because women they have a place in the workforce and good managers realize this.

provisions for pumping women in lower wage jobs are even more important because they are the least able to afford formula.

 

[Rence]

I’m not sure what the issue is. It only takes about 15 minutes to pump with a dual breast pump, and you usually only need to do it three times in an 8-hour day. I’ve seen people taking breaks and lunches that equal more than that. So what’s this about the worker not being available?

As to privacy, they can put up a curtain, according to the quote if there truly is no room. I’m sure they can figure out something. I really don’t see what the big deal is

Smart businesses realize that it’s better for their business that their employed moms breastfeed. Why? Because studies show that breast fed babies are sick less often, therefore, mom doesn’t have to call in sick to take care of a sick baby or for doctor’s visits.

 

[vera_dicere]

Its against the law in NZL to kick a breast feeding mother out of any place, doesn’t matter if its a church, a funeral, a resturant or a public park. However, we dont’ have any solid requirements for places to provide an area for a nursing women. And privacy? I think that’s just another way to closet what’s supposed to be completely natural process and best for baby. Nursing mums shouldn’t have to feel any kind of shame about what they’re doing.

Breast pumps on the other hand, there’s plenty of places a woman can go to get a bit of privacy if she wants some while she’s expressing.

 

[mini_me640]

I can’t believe anyone actually has a problem with this. I’ve worked with numerous people who took far more time in coffee/smoking/cell phone breaks each day than a nursing mother ever would pumping. Why shouldn’t employers accomodate a mother providing food to her child? Remember, a child who receive breasts milk will likely get sick less often, causing mom to miss work less. What’s a couple of 15 minute sessions a day to an employer?

 

[losh14]

Its against the law in NZL to kick a breast feeding mother out of any place, doesn’t matter if its a church, a funeral, a resturant or a public park. However, we dont’ have any solid requirements for places to provide an area for a nursing women.
Breast pumps on the other hand, there’s plenty of places a woman can go to get a bit of privacy if she wants some while she’s expressing.

It should be noted that the law in many states (as well as other nations) is that a woman is allowed to nurse or expel breast milk wherever she is herself allowed to be provided there is no indecent exposure. In other words, if she wears a cloth or is given a closed door. It also means that an employer cannot tell a woman she cannot nurse or pump at work - within reason she has to be given time and space to do so.

I think designating a separate facility is a bit much for small businesses. My company (4000 employees) has three such rooms across our campus for this purpose. My wife’s company (60 employees) asked her to do it on her breaks and printed a do not disturb sign for her door. The few front-line employees at her work are offered a conference room or their manager’s office, depending on which is available.

Point is, such a law shouldn’t be seen as burdensome. It just means “give your employee some space and time to do this.” If smokers are given 15-minute breaks twice a day to feed their nic-fit, nursing moms should get the same to feed their babies.

 

[losh14]

I can’t believe anyone actually has a problem with this.

It’s quite an interesting reaction, I think. My wife’s boss, when she told him she wanted time to pump, asked if she’d be bringing the baby in or leaving to go to her day care. It took a conversation with an HR manager (who is also a mom) to explain what it all means and he was uncomfortable just with talking about nursing.

Likewise we brought our daughter when she was 3 months old to my wife’s cousin’s house. She pulled out her nursing cover asked if he minded if she fed our baby, and he offered the bathroom. His wife smacked him hard and said my wife was fine on their couch. He will still leave the room anytime any member of the family nurses, even at their own house.

 

[jilly4ski]

It’s quite an interesting reaction, I think. My wife’s boss, when she told him she wanted time to pump, asked if she’d be bringing the baby in or leaving to go to her day care. It took a conversation with an HR manager (who is also a mom) to explain what it all means and he was uncomfortable just with talking about nursing.

Likewise we brought our daughter when she was 3 months old to my wife’s cousin’s house. She pulled out her nursing cover asked if he minded if she fed our baby, and he offered the bathroom. His wife smacked him hard and said my wife was fine on their couch. He will still leave the room anytime any member of the family nurses, even at their own house.

Some men need a good smack.

I am a pumping mother right now, though not during work but rather law school. When I thought I might have a class conflict with any sort of reasonable pumping schedule I went to student life and they offered to “change my class schedule” I managed to work it out without dropping any classes. I pump in the changing rooms. Which are 3x3 rooms which a bench, a chair, and an electrical outlet. I however feel lucky that I have this place to pump in private and I don’t need to hide out in a class room under a nursing cover trying to hide from students and classes. I am sure professors wouldn’t like the sound of the pump going in the back of the classroom.

 

[vera_dicere]

… provided there is no indecent exposure. In other words, if she wears a cloth or is given a closed door.

This is what I what I dont’ understand, it might be the culture I come from, but how anyone can get offended about something that is completely natural and far from obscene is beyond me.

I think a lot of the problem has to do with how society has twisted the woman’s breasts into an object of lust and sexuality as opposed to what they were designed to be.

 

[Orleans_Attny]

I can’t believe anyone actually has a problem with this. I’ve worked with numerous people who took far more time in coffee/smoking/cell phone breaks each day than a nursing mother ever would pumping. Why shouldn’t employers accomodate a mother providing food to her child? Remember, a child who receive breasts milk will likely get sick less often, causing mom to miss work less. What’s a couple of 15 minute sessions a day to an employer?

This. Absolutely. THIS. I’m also stunned by any sort of negative reaction to this concept. As a lawyer who has worked for both the government and private law firms, I’d be stunned if any client came to me and complained about this. It would be one of those moments when the counselor looks at his or her client and say (internally), “Really? This knucklehead is a serious and successful business person? Imagine what he or she could accomplish with some common sense!”

Pax,
OA