Be aware of rights for breastfeeding

C ompanies who allow their customers to breastfeed in public should extend the same rights to their employees, a legal firm has warned.

It follows the high-profile case of airline easyJet, which failed to accommodate requests from cabin crew to vary their duties so they could express breast milk and continue breastfeeding when they returned to work after maternity leave.

The company offered two members of its cabin crew six months of ground duties while they were breastfeeding.

Its argument was that continuing to breastfeed longer than six months was the employees’ own choice. It also failed to respond to a request to limit the length of shifts the mothers were to work from 12 to eight hours.

Although easyJet recognised breastfeeding as being a right of passengers, the airline’s position did not extend to crew, according to the complainants – both members of the trade union Unite.

An employment tribunal ruling found easyJet’s suggested solution amounted to discrimination.

Unite’s legal officer, Nicky Marcus, said the ruling had “wider implications for all working women”.

And Alan Matthew, employment specialist with Tayside legal firm Miller Hendry, added: “It’s usually breastfeeding customers who make the headlines, with retailers and other service providers touting their openness to women breastfeeding, or being called out for not allowing it.

“But this case shows that employees are just as important when it comes to the rights of working mothers. This ruling is a lesson for all employers and how they treat their female employees.”

The Advisory, Conciliation and Arbitration Service (ACAS) suggests UK employers provide somewhere for a breastfeeding employee to rest, which includes being able to lie down.

It says it is good practice for employers to conduct a risk assessment for a returning breastfeeding employee and grant paid breaks from a job so they can breastfeed or express milk – and provide facilities for doing so.

ACAS also suggests employers discuss employees’ requirements and consider nominating a female employee to do this.

The National Childbirth Trust adds that it is up to the individual mother to decide how long they wish to continue breastfeeding. And it makes the point that while the law does not give you a specific right to time off, you have the right to ask for changes to your working hours.

The trust urges mothers to make sure they have discussions with their employer before returning to work and discuss any adjustments needed.

This ruling is a lesson for all employers and how they treat female employees

Breastfeeding mothers should be accommodated when they return to work, a new ruling says.