Upstate NY Babies
"Sorry we really don't have a place for you to pump"
As if my first day back hasnt' sucked enough....my office apparantly now isn't breastfeeding friendly. I was supposed to be able to use this empty office. It would have been perfect. However this girl that quit, "changed her mind," and now she is using the office. So I said ok I'll use the conference room. But apparantly that gets used a lot now. So they offered me the bathroom, which I said NO to, because it's gross. And I would have to sit out in the open for all to see and hear. Then they said how about the back warehouse area, I guess it would work, but still anyone can walk back there, and it's cold/hot (depending on the time of year.) It sucks because my company has over 1000 employees nationwide, but there are only 20 in my office, so I don't think we fall under the breastfeeding law.
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Re: "Sorry we really don't have a place for you to pump"
OMG this is the third time I have tried to reply to this message and TB keeps giving me an error, so I keep losing my reply!!!
By law, NYS says that your employer, regardless of size has to give you a place to pump:
https://www.labor.ny.gov/workerprotection/laborstandards/pdfs/guidelinesexpressionofbreastmilkfinal.pdf
And Federal law goes above and beyond state law to say that the plac e to pump CANNOT be a bathroom.
https://www.usbreastfeeding.org/Portals/0/Workplace/HR3590-Sec4207-Nursing-Mothers.pdf
I would go to your manager or HR rep armed with these laws and demand an appropriate place to pump.
I'm so sorry you have to deal with that right now.
See I'm not sure that they are because we have under 50 employees in my office.
Ditto to this, that is NOT ok!!!
Yes they are breaking the law. In NYS - it doesn't matter if you have one employee or 300, they have to provide you with a non-bathroom place to pump!
Question - does it have to be a locked room? Just wondering bc I choose to pump in a bathroom because my work provided room is a changing room which just has a fabric curtain as the door.
I was wondering this too because my other option is the back warehouse which anyone could just walk through.
They're totally violating the law with what they're offering you. They have to provide you with a private place to pump, it cannot be a bathroom, and it can't be anywhere where anyone can access it. So the warehouse does not count, since any other employee has access to it while you're pumping. It says if they can't provide you with a lock, they at minimum have to hang up a sign saying that no one is allowed in the area where you are pumping.
JNK, I think the fitting room probably counts under the law. It says if they don't provide you with a room, they can provide a cubicle with walls at least 7 feet high. I would guess that a fitting room complies with that part of the law.
Here is the NYS law on what kind of room they have to provide you:
III. Reasonable Efforts and Privacy
A. All employers are required to make reasonable efforts to provide a private room or other location for the purpose of expression of breast milk. ?Reasonable effort? requires that the room or other location must be provided for use of employees expressing breast milk so long as it is neither significantly impracticable, inconvenient, or expensive to the employer to do so. Relevant factors in determining significant impracticality, inconvenience, or expense include but are not limited to:
The nature of work performed at the business;
The overall size and physical layout of the business;
The type of facility where the business is housed;
The size and composition of the employer?s workforce;
The business? general hours of operation and the employees? normal
work shifts;
The relative cost of providing a room or other space for the dedicated
purpose.
B. The room or location provided by the employer for this purpose cannot be a
restroom or toilet stall.
C. An employer may dedicate one room or other location for the expression of
breast milk and establish a schedule to accommodate the needs of multiple employees needing access thereto.
D. An employer who is unable to provide a dedicated lactation room or other location under these guidelines, may allow the use of a vacant office or other available room on a temporary basis for the expression of breast milk, provided the room is not accessible to the public or other employees while the nursing employee is using the room for expression purposes.
E. As a last resort, an employer who is unable to provide a dedicated lactation room or other location under these guidelines may make available a cubicle for use by individuals expressing breast milk, provided the cubicle is fully enclosed with a partition and is not otherwise accessible to the public or other employees while it is in use for
expression purposes. The cubicle walls shall be at least seven feet tall to insure the nursing employee?s privacy.
F. Each room or other location used for the expression of breast milk under these guidelines shall be well lit at all times through either natural or artificial light. If the room has a window, it shall be covered with a curtain, blind, or other covering to ensure privacy for the mother as she is expressing breast milk. The room shall contain, at a minimum, a chair and small table, desk, counter, or other flat surface. In addition, employers are encouraged to provide an outlet, clean water supply, and access to refrigeration for the purposes of storing the expressed milk.
G. An employer is not responsible for insuring the safekeeping of expressed milk stored in any refrigerator on its premises. The employee is required to store all expressed milk in closed containers, regardless of the method of storage and to bring such milk home with her each evening.
H. The employer must maintain the cleanliness of the room or location set aside for the use of employees expressing breast milk at work.
I. An employer may not deny an employee this benefit due to difficulty in finding a location for purposes of the same.
J. For the purposes of this provision: ?Private? shall mean that the room or other location shall not be open to other individuals frequenting the business, whether as employees, customers, or other members of the public. To insure privacy, the room or location should have a door equipped with a functional lock. If a door with a functional lock is not available (in the case of a fully enclosed cubicle) as a last resort an employer must utilize a sign advising the room or location is in use and not accessible to other employees or the public.