Law of lactation breaks in the UK: employers’ perspectives
This chapter looks into the legal understandings that managers have of lactation breaks. It gives a summary of the key legislation applicable in the United Kingdom and discusses how this is applied within the workplace. The chapter also gives some suggestions for how to improve the legislative backdrop in which women make decisions about their return to work, breastfeeding, and how this process can be better managed by employers. In the project described here, managers, human resources staff, and strategic leaders in a UK public sector organisation were asked about lactation breaks. This investigation shows a real-world context for decision-making around infant feeding. Managers displayed limited knowledge of the legislation and called for goodwill from all parties to resolve issues, better guidance, and perhaps legislation on the topic. There were some hesitancies about allowing a baby to visit the workplace, because of lack of suitable facilities, and health and safety issues. This chapter indicates that better procedures are needed for the process of returning to work as a new parent, and that lactation breaks should be part of that conversation.