Insight from an HR consultant in Milton Keynes on the legal duties you have when an employee is breastfeeding or expressing milk at work, and how to get it right without overcomplicating things.
The law around supporting breastfeeding employees has been in place for a while now. But it's an area where many small business owners still don't know what's expected of them.
That gap in knowledge can be costly. Tribunal claims for discrimination or harassment in this area carry potentially uncapped financial damages.
With World Breastfeeding Week running from 1 to 7 August, it's a timely reminder to check where you stand.
Here's what you need to know and what you should have in place.
Your legal duties as an employer
There are several obligations that apply to you if a member of your team is breastfeeding or expressing milk after returning from maternity leave. Some of these sit under health and safety law. Others fall under employment rights legislation.
Let me walk you through the main ones.
Carrying out a risk assessment
The Health and Safety at Work Act 1974 and the Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999 require you to carry out a risk assessment for new and expectant mothers. What catches people out is that this duty doesn't end when maternity leave finishes. If your employee has come back to work and is still nursing, the obligation continues.
Providing a private space
You're required to give your employee somewhere suitable to breastfeed or express milk. That space needs to be clean, private and appropriate. A toilet cubicle doesn't meet the standard, and both HMRC and HSE guidance are clear on that point. It comes up more often than you'd expect.
You don't need to build a dedicated room for this. A spare office with a lock on the door, or any quiet area with a chair and a surface, will do. The key thing is dignity.
Flexibility around working hours
Under the Employment Rights Act 1996, you should reasonably accommodate requests for adjusted hours, changed shifts or flexible breaks to allow for breastfeeding or expressing. ACAS guidance goes further and encourages employers to allow short, unpaid breaks or slightly adjusted schedules.
One thing to be aware of: you're not legally required to pay for those breaks.
Creating a supportive environment
If an employee feels pressured or embarrassed about breastfeeding at work, that could form the basis of a harassment claim. You should do whatever is reasonably possible to make sure she feels comfortable raising the subject and asking for what she needs.
Where the discrimination risk sits
This is the part that tends to worry business owners most, and rightly so.
If an employee feels she has no choice but to resign because you've refused to provide a private space or won't allow breaks for expressing, she could bring a constructive dismissal claim. And if she's dismissed or penalised because of breastfeeding, that dismissal could be found to be automatically unfair.
You don't have to be acting with bad intentions for a claim to succeed. A manager who's dismissive about the request, or inconsistent treatment compared to how other requests are handled, can be enough. Simply not putting the basics in place could land you with a problem.
What getting it right actually looks like
The good news is that none of this is difficult. It just needs a bit of thought and some straightforward preparation.
Here's what I'd recommend:
🟢Consider if a written policy would help so that every manager knows how to respond when a request comes in. Consistency matters.
🟢Identify a suitable private space in your workplace. It doesn't need to be fancy. It does need to not be a bathroom.
🟢Build in reasonable flexibility around break times for expressing.
🟢Have a conversation with your employee before she returns from maternity leave. Let her know what arrangements are available so she feels supported from day one.
That last point makes a real difference. An employee who knows her employer has already thought about this is far more likely to come back feeling settled and committed to staying.
Why this matters for your business
Beyond the legal side, there's a clear business case for handling this well.
Returning from maternity leave is already a sensitive time. If the experience of coming back feels unsupportive, you're much more likely to lose someone you've spent time and money developing. Retention is directly linked to how well you manage this transition.
It's also worth noting that parental rights are being strengthened under the Employment Rights Act, with enhanced maternity protections expected to come into effect in 2027. Scrutiny in this area is only going to increase. Sorting your approach out now, while it's straightforward, saves you from having to fix a more complicated problem later on.
As part of our HR consultancy services in Milton Keynes, I regularly help business owners put the right policies and processes in place so they're covered before any issue arises.
Questions worth asking yourself
If you've got employees who could be affected by this, take a few minutes to think about the following:
🟢Do your managers know how to handle a request?
🟢Is there a private, clean space in your workplace that isn't a toilet where an employee could express milk?
🟢Would you know how to handle a request for adjusted breaks or hours from a nursing mother?
🟢Have you thought about how you'd have a return-to-work conversation with an employee coming back from maternity leave who's still breastfeeding?
If the answer to any of those is no, or you're not sure, it's worth addressing sooner rather than later.
I can carry out a risk assessment for new and expectant mothers, help you put a clear breastfeeding and expressing policy in place, and make sure your managers understand how to handle requests properly.
If you're unsure whether what you currently have covers your legal obligations, let's have a chat about it.
As an outsourced HR consultant providing support across the UK, I work with small and medium-sized businesses to make sure they stay on the right side of employment law without it taking over their time.
Get in touch and we can talk it through. You can book a discovery call and we'll look at where you are now and what needs to happen next. 📱 0781 3084152 or email 📧 daxa@hrresultsltd.co.uk Taking your HR from 'to do' to 'done'.
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