Negotiating on the health and safety of new and expectant mothers
[ch 8: page 62]The LRD Payline database has details of an agreement on breastfeeding at Edinburgh City Council which says: “For the period until a child is one year old employees should, wherever practicable, be granted paid time off and access to a private room/area, other than a toilet, for the purposes of expressing breast milk and a refrigerator to store such expressed milk; and/or unpaid time off during normal working hours to breast feed a baby who is being cared for in a location within close proximity to their work location.”
UNISON’s guide to bargaining for maternity rights, updated in 2013, advises union reps to try to negotiate for a second risk assessment to be automatically carried out when a woman returns from maternity leave. Appropriate changes to working patterns and rest facilities should be provided.
The HSE has useful section of FAQ’s on the health and safety of new and expectant mothers which looks at the issues raised in this Chapter. This is available at: www.hse.gov.uk/mothers/faqs.htm#q3.