Problems with Breastfeeding and the workplace

[gandicor]

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? NJ

So my wife has been struggling with breastfeeding our child since he was born. She is a nurse and like all nurses her working environment is very busy and understaffed. By law, she is given two breaks throughout the day to pump and this is very important for her to do in order to avoid giving our child formula. Her employer is known to fire people on whims and for petty reasons in general and since she has returned to work one of her coworkers has been complaining about her taking breaks. I am sure the management also does not enjoy her taking breaks and would love to see her stop breastfeeding altogether. This has happened to a friend of mine who works at a bank; she felt pressured by employers to stop taking the breaks and ended up giving the child formula.

Recently the manager of the nursing staff was fired and for those of you who don't know what that means for the nurses is that they now have no one to stand up for them against management. It is my opinion that this person was fired since she was siding with the nurses as it was her job to do instead of siding with management and "playing ball" with whatever they wanted. Now that she is gone we are worried that either her replacement or the current management will be pressuring her to stop pumping at work.

Obviously, this isn't an option for us and I told her to not take any harassment and that she needs to do what is best for our son. But we are now worried that she is walking on thin ice and that they will try to fire her for another reason since you legally cannot fire someone for pumping at work.

My question is whether there is anything we can do right now to prevent her from being fired or to start building our case in the event she is wrongfully fired.

 

[ecmst12]

I would suggest she do her job to the best of her ability, and ignore any pressure. Don't go expecting trouble, that tends to create it. If management gives her issues, she should go to HR.

 

[justalayman]

My question is whether there is anything we can do right now to prevent her from being fired or to start building our case in the event she is wrongfully fired.

if they have taken no action to inhibit your wife from her current schedule, there is not really anything to do.

You can never stop an employer from firing you. If the firing was illegal, then you address it after it happens.

and building what kind of case?


I could not find anything that spoke of two breaks specifically. The federal law says how ever many times it is required. The federal law also stated there must be reasonable time allowed to express milk. If the breaks are less than 20 minutes, they must be paid. If they exceed 20 minutes, they do not have to be paid.

That law only applies to when the child is younger than a year. I could not find any state law addressing the issue.

 

[OHRoadwarrior]

According to the NJ BF AS,

Many mothers choose to or must return to work soon after their babies are born. With the availability of reliable breast pumps, it is possible to continue breastfeeding after returning to paid employment. In New Jersey, there is no law requiring employers to allow mothers to pump milk at work. However, many employers now have lactation programs in place in recognition of the fact that it helps the business’ “bottom line” to help mothers continue breastfeeding when they return to work.

According to a gov't site, woman who breastfeed are less likely to be off work in year one.

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/10160049

 

[gandicor]

She really doesn't want to cause problems but considering an email going around about "cleaning house" has us worried. One of the reasons the nursing manager was given for being fired was concerning the way she "handled" the pumping situation. She has been back to work for 3 months and still does not have a private place to do it other than the bathroom which the DOL website specifically prohibits.

Also, I should emphasize that they are now even more understaffed and the nurse manager was the one who covered her work for the 20 minute breaks that she took. This is the main cause for concern. As far as building a case, I was wondering if we should document that there has been no private area for her to go in the last 3 months which is against federal law?

 

[ecmst12]

She should speak with HR about her concerns.

 

[OHRoadwarrior]

She should speak with HR about her concerns.

This is the best advice. HR usually makes corrections for perceived violations of employment law.

 

[justalayman]

This is the best advice. HR usually makes corrections for perceived violations of employment law.

this is not a perceived violation. The law is quite clear as to a bathroom not being an acceptable place for the activity.

 

[CJane]

There's no breakroom at this facility? No unused offices? No space ANYWHERE to do this, other than the bathroom?

What has your wife done to attempt to ensure that her rights are not being violated? Has she spoken to HR? Informed anyone that her breaks are specifically for expressing milk? Has she ASKED ANYONE if there is a location that she can utilize for this?

She's responsible for ensuring that her rights are protected, or at the very least, people in management/HR are aware that she feels as if they are NOT being protected.

 

[Zigner]

Just to clear one thing up - it's not a supervisor's job to "take the side" of the employee. In fact a supervisor should be looking out for the employer's best interest

 

[CJane]

Just to clear one thing up - it's not a supervisor's job to "take the side" of the employee. In fact a supervisor should be looking out for the employer's best interest

In fact, I would bet that if that's the behavior that the 'supervisor' was engaging in, she was fired for that specific reason.

 

[gandicor]

No, the person who was fired is the person who is supposed to manage the medical staff and maintain policies. Often times there are situations where the management or owners want procedure to happen that shouldn't and the nurses or doctors would be risking their licenses if there ended up being a problem during the procedure. The result might be lost money for the facility but its this job's person to make sure things are done the right way.

Additionally, there are no HR people working in the building that she works in. They do find her an area in private but since its such a busy building it usually takes some time shuffling her around which causes her breaks to be longer than needed.

 

[Silverplum]

Additionally, there are no HR people working in the building that she works in.

Is she not allowed to call them? Write them?

 

[Zigner]

They do find her an area in private but since its such a busy building it usually takes some time shuffling her around which causes her breaks to be longer than needed.

Wait, you're complaining because they go out of their way to accommodate your wife...?

 

[ecmst12]

Just to clear one thing up - it's not a supervisor's job to "take the side" of the employee. In fact a supervisor should be looking out for the employer's best interest

Further clarification - it's a nursing supervisor's job to look out for the PATIENTS' best interests, not necessarily the staff OR the employer. But in this situation, it is actually a nursing supervisor's job to advocate for the needs of her staff so they can do their job and take care of their patients properly.