Leaving work to breastfeed

DBunger · March 2005

I just found out that we have a new mom who is leaving work every 2 hours to breastfeed. Apparently her supervisor has given her the ok (without checking with HR)My question is - if we put a stop to it are we violating any laws? I can't seem to find anything.

It's causing bad moral and she isn't making an attempt to make up the time. Not to mention the precedence it's creating.

Any input or suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks a bunch,
Nikki

lnelson · March 2005

Speak with the supervisor as to why it was approved for ee to do this. They may think they have to by law. Educate them that they do not.

As long as you can provide a private place for her to be able to pump she should be able to do it on her normal breaks.

We have allowed breast feeding mothers to extend there am & pm breaks by an additional 5 minutes.

It is truly at your companies disgression but allowing her to go home every 2 hours probably for an hour each time is extreme. It also sets a precedent for future breastfeeding mothers.

Gillian3 · March 2005

Actually, what lnelson describes is a good accomodation for the need. It also conforms with California regulations which require accomodation unless there is a business reason why it can't. If you don't have a state regulation then it becomes a business issue, but one which should be accomodated if possible, in my opinion anyway.

DBunger · March 2005

Thanks for all the input.

We were providing her with a place to pump but for some reason she has returned the pump and has started leaving to actually breastfeed. Unfortunately she has used all of her FMLA time so that isn't an option. Not to mention she actually took her baby to another branch so she wouldn't miss a feeding since she wouldn't make it back in time. Which presents a whole different problem as far as being liable for the baby on work/travel time....

Thanks again

Nikki

E Wart · March 2005

What's going on? Is this supv. a breast feeding mother too? It sounds as if this employee is taking a good thing too far. You can look at [url]www.latecheleague.org[/url] for great information on breast feeding accommodations, laws etc.
I belive you only have to offer accommodations... (place to pump.) You don't even have to offer extra time, but can to be nice. They can do this during break and lunch if they want. (We had an employee who would go in and pump for 30 minutes right before they went to lunch and right before they went home every day for over 6 months, totalling 1 hour a day... and then would take lunch or leave. Finally supervisor questioned her on it (when employees got fed up and asked him about it) and she stopped pumping at work. Shows that she was taking advantage of company time, and must not have been absolutly necessary. I would say put an end to it right away or will continue for months and months. Also, I can see no reason why a child should ever be brought to work (unless company allows employees to bring children to work with them.) It sounds as if this employee needs to realize that yes, they are a new Mom and that is a wonderful thing... but they are now back at work. They need to make a decision as to if they want to do both.

E Wart

DBunger · March 2005

Those are my thoughts. She is definitely taking advantage - given the fact that she was pumping and returned it. Now all of a sudden... I don't think so. Although I blame the supervisor since this isn't the first time he's done something that has set a precedent. (My manager is speaking to him as we speak...)

Nikki

Don D · March 2005

I'm just a man, so what do I know? But, I'm amazed that "It's causing bad morale". I can't get a grip on that. When she leaves to take care of this, do you hear chants of 'off with her head'? In the grande scheme of things, this seems fairly innocuous. I agree with Gillian3.

HRinFL · March 2005

[font size="1" color="#FF0000"]LAST EDITED ON 03-08-05 AT 04:30PM (CST)[/font][br][br]I agree that a private place to pump is a good accommodation. My wife and I have two children, one five years old the other six months old. Both have been nursed. For both, my wife pumped at work during her breaks and lunch. In her office, she has a "closet" that has an electrical outlet and that locks from inside, so she can pump in private. For our second, she goes to the day care on site to nurse. She receives a forty-five minute lunch, so she can nurse for thirty minutes and have time to get back.

In your case, if the mother is adamant about leaving, I think you can do two things. First, tell her that it creates a harship for the business and inform her that she can pump at work. Give her something in writing outlining your accommodation. Secondly, if it is not a harship, you could allow her to leave (maybe not every two hours, but maybe twice a day) and count it as FMLA time, if she qualifies and did not burn it all when her child was born. Track it consistently, when she is about to run out of time, let her know and then offer the private location to pump again. If she refuses, you can definitely show that you made every effort to accommodate her (even though this is not something that requires an accommodation by law). I know someone whose daughter would only eat if her mother breastfed her and the mother would regularly have to leave so the child would eat. I do not think this is common, but offering intermittent FMLA to allow the mother to wean the child may be beneficial.

TN HR · March 2005

I think this is a fairly easy accomodation to provide on-site, as others have suggested. At my previous employer (very new-parent friendly due to the overwhelming number of ee Gen X'ers starting their families) we offered the whole suite of ammenities from free pagers (for that very important call) to Mother's Rooms on each floor, tastefully decorated and furnished with a glider rocker and couch and individually controlled climate system.

Gene

POPEYE · March 2005

What? No plasma TV screens and surround sound?

TN HR · March 2005

I'm sure the hum of the pump had a certain amount of sorround sound to it..............

dchr9203 · March 2005

[font size="1" color="#FF0000"]LAST EDITED ON 03-09-05 AT 08:38AM (CST)[/font][br][br]There are no laws that require you to allow an employee to physically leave the work place to breast feed a child. Pumping is an acceptable and reasonable compromise. We allow extra breaks for pumping and a private place to do it. We would not allow the employee to physically leave the facility every two hours to go feed unless the employee lived next door and was only gone for the same amount of time it would take to pump, which does not sound like the case with your employee.

Balloonman1 · March 2005

As someone whose wife breast fed and pumped, I think this is crap. She needs to be given a place to pump, but leaving every two hours. NO WAY. SOme good advice & HRinFL hit it on the head......
Need to stop this now and have a chat w/ supervisor. My only disclaimer would be if she LITERALLY lived next door, and was gone for just a few minutes, but I am guessing that is not the case.......
My $0.02 worth,
THe Balloonman

marc · March 2005

Seems pretty obvious that she is taking advantage of the company to accomodate her personal situation. Being a stay-at-home mom and a full-time working person just does not mix. In an isolated situation, it may not appear to be a big deal, except for the precedent it may set. The minute you do not accomodate another that is in a protected status...

If the supervisor is able to allow this, then someone else is taking up the work that is not being done by the mom. If there is not impact in that department, perhaps this should be a part-time position or eliminated altogether?

szemcumo · March 2005

I agree, if the ee can be gone that often and performance is not a problem then this position needs re-evaluated. I am a big advocate of breast feeding. I did so 2 years ea for both of my children. I was blessed to be able to stay home with them until the attended school. However, had I needed to work there is no way I would have expected and er to accommadate a choice I had made (breast feeding) in this way. This is expecting way too much and will only lead to trouble if allowed to continue. What if she chooses to breast feed as long as I did...there could be no end to her comings and goings during the work day. This is not acceptable. I hope she can work out a pumping schedule and continue to breast feed, the benefits to the child are enormous but this is not the way to do it.

WO · March 2005

I agree with Balloonman. This has gone too far.

I had a recent experience wherein the supervisor told the returning new mother (post FMLA) that she could bring the baby to work for the next three months until day care was available at 6 months of age. I had to put a stop to it only after seeing a newborn baby in the office bouncing on the shoulder of a co-worker while she answered the business phone.

There were lots of tears and threats as the employer was now going to have to pay for daycare for which she had not planned! I had to correct it though before we were overun by babies and grandbabies of all the other employees.

WT · May 2005

I am a little late in my response, but it is a good thing to be reasonable with employees. They also should be reasonable in turn. Does the new mother have any vacation time. If so, why not offer her the use of vacation in short increments so she can nurse her baby. If this is very important to her, she should be agreeable. If she refuses because she is "saving" her vacation for a summer trip or something similar, then she is not being reasonable.

We require paid time to be used for FMLA leave before unpaid time. It is remarkable how employees can decide that they do not need the time off if they have to give something up (i.e. their vacation plans).

Nina I · May 2005

Oops, I am a bit late on this one as well, but I just felt it necessary to point out that pumping is NOT always an effective substitute for breastfeeding (personal experience). If you can accommodate her such as WT suggested (with vacation time, perhaps), it would be a good idea, and might give some idea as to her mindset on this matter.

Crout · May 2005

[font size="1" color="#FF0000"]LAST EDITED ON 05-09-05 AT 12:32PM (CST)[/font][br][br]Pardon my ignorance, but how is pumping not an effective substitute? Are you saying that the ONLY way to get a mother's milk into a baby is through the mother's breast? What do you mean by "effective?" One key question: do you live in California?

Forget the last question....I see that you do.

Superlative_KC · May 2005

Some breast babies refuse a bottle.

Nina I · May 2005

Well, I hesitate to divulge TMI here, but when I went back to work when my daughter was 4 months, I attempted to pump. I think, with a little imagination, we can all see that a pump is not a baby... (smile here). The suction is completely different, and the stimulus is absent, i.e. baby's cry, smell, etc. I hope this doesn't offend anyone, but these things make a difference. I actually made a tape of my daughter in sheer desperation. I could not get "let down," which is necessary for the flow of milk. Some women also cannot relax enough in their office to allow letdown..also, some pumps aren't strong enough. The end result was that by 6 months, my daytime milk production dwindled to the point of nonexistence - the telling part was that evening and night feedings remained the same. So, no, pumping is not always an effective substitute. Hope that wasn't more than you wanted to know!

Crout · May 2005

From an HR perspective I think the whole thing could have been handled with a strongly-worded, directive memo....to yourself from yourself, e.g; "You will have an adequate amount of milk pumed and bottled by (insert timeframe)." "Failure to do so may result in disciplinary action," yada, yada, yada. I don't see why that couldn't have worked...(wink).

Nina I · May 2005

Oh, don't I wish!

I hope we find out what happened with the original Forumite poster...

Don D · May 2005

Boy! Talk about too much information! This one takes the cake. Next: Don walks you through the colonoscopy process of two years ago, from an intimate perspective, with extended emphasis on the exact number of feet between his recliner and his commode. Accompanied by color photographs inserted with permission from James S. (Talk about STIMULUS! Man, I had me some stimulus in that plastic jug.)

DBunger · May 2005

Update - It turned out that she had been pumping at work but for some reason returned the pump and started to leave throughout the day. But was not reflecting this time on her time card. Not to mention she typically only works a 36 hour week but is salaried non-exempt and is paid for 40. So it turned out she was only working about 33 hours. (not too bad, huh?)

Anyway, they ended up allowing her to continue to leave 3 times a day by spliting her lunch into 2 half hours and using her 15 minute break along with adding 15 minutes onto her work day (bringing her back up to 36 hours).

However, it seems like she has recently stopped breastfeeding since her time card is no longer reflecting the shortened lunch hours.

Nikki

Nina I · May 2005

Geez, leave it to a few to take advantage...it sounds like it "ended" well - you tried to accommodate her WITHOUT allowing her to take more advantage. Perfect.

JM in ATL · May 2005

Coming in late on this one, but OH MY GAH!

What in the world was going through both the employee and supervisors mind that this person could LEAVE work to go home and feed the child!

Total insanity!!! Good grief!!!

Leaving work to breastfeed

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