Breastfeeding and working are not mutually exclusive. This is because the Maternity Protection Act obliges employers to grant breastfeeding mothers the necessary freedom in the workplace.
Many mothers who are still breastfeeding want or need to go back to work at some point. Some do this at the end of the maternity protection period, others at the end of parental leave. However, returning to work is by no means a reason to stop breastfeeding your baby! The Maternity Protection Act is entirely in favour of working mothers who are breastfeeding - even if they express their milk during working hours.
Legal regulations for breastfeeding working mothers
In particular the Maternity Protection Act ensures that mothers can continue to work or continue their training, school or studies while breastfeeding. Let's take a closer look at the two most important provisions in the current version from 1 January 2018.
Entitlement to breastfeeding time (§ 7 MuSchG exemption for examinations and breastfeeding):You are allowed to breastfeed your child or express your breast milk during your working hours if you wish. The legislator calls both Breastfeeding. Your employer must release you from work for the time required for this. This applies for the entire first year of your child's life, every working day and for as long as you are breastfeeding. All you have to do is inform your employer that you want to continue breastfeeding or expressing your milk and request the necessary time off in writing or verbally.
The law also stipulates which breastfeeding times are permitted during daily working hours. at least are required:
- You are entitled to at least 60 minutes of breastfeeding time every working day, which you can also divide into two 30-minute periods.
Part-time mothers are also entitled to breastfeeding time. However, they must also take the employer's interests into account and organise breastfeeding or expressing in such a way that as little working time as possible is lost.
- If you work more than 8 hours a day in a row (i.e. without a rest break of more than two hours in between), you are entitled to at least 90 minutes of breastfeeding time. Of course, you can also take at least two 45-minute breaks.
No wage deduction (§ 23 Remuneration for time off for examinations and breastfeeding):It is clearly stipulated that breastfeeding times during working hours do not affect your pay. not may reduce your salary. You will therefore continue to receive your full earnings despite the additional breaks from breastfeeding. This also applies to working breastfeeding mothers who work from home.
You do not have to work before or after your breastfeeding breaks. And it must not be counted towards other rest breaks that you are also entitled to. Breastfeeding time is additional!
By the way: If at least three women are employed in a company, employers must inform their employees (including those working from home) about their rights under the Maternity Protection Act. For example, on a notice board or as a digital file accessible to all.
The question remains, What happens when an employer not fulfils its obligations under the Maternity Protection Act. Quite simply - then the Supervisory authorities comes into play. However, this is a different authority in each federal state. You can find out who is responsible for you on the website of the Federal Ministry of Family Affairs here find out.
According to § 29, the competent supervisory authority can force your employer to comply with the Maternity Protection Act in the event of a conflict. It can also order your employer to provide a suitable room for your breastfeeding times. It can also prohibit the employer from employing a breastfeeding woman on Sundays and public holidays or between 8pm and 10pm. As a rule, she is not allowed to work at night anyway. They can also check whether the workplace and working conditions are dangerous for you and your child. The supervisory authorities can do much more. So if you have problems with your employer as a breastfeeding mother, go to them in confidence.
Working while breastfeeding needs customised solutions
In Germany, mothers, especially breastfeeding mothers, are in very different situations after the birth of a child when it comes to returning to work:
- Many mothers take the following after giving birth Parental leave to claim. Employers are obliged to grant them leave for up to three years. On average, the duration of parental leave requested by mothers is currently 14.6 months (2022, statistia.com). However, no salary is paid during parental leave. This is not a substitute, but does provide some compensation. Parental allowance.
So if mothers stay with their child for a year or longer after the birth, they can breastfeed for a long time in peace. Many mothers continue breastfeeding even after their baby is six months old. Complementary food receives. This situation therefore does not conflict with gainful employment.
- The situation is different for mothers who early want to or have to return to work - but want to continue breastfeeding their baby. All women are faced with the dilemma that a long career break after giving birth results in lower financial provision in old age. For well-educated, professionally ambitious women, taking a longer break can also be detrimental to their career. This remains a fact, even if it is often disputed. In many families, however, mothers do not even have the choice of how long they want to stay with their child after the birth - they have to go back to work as soon as possible out of financial necessity and earn money because their family needs the mother's income to make ends meet.
The statistics tell us that in the first year of a child's life, around 8 per cent of mothers are already in full-time employment and 11.1 per cent in part-time employment (less than 20 hours/week). By then, a total of 26 per cent of mothers are already working again. We also know that around 10 per cent of mothers who wean their child after 6 to 12 months cite a return to work as the reason for doing so.
This doesn't have to be the case, especially as quite a few mothers would like to continue breastfeeding their child, even if this involves some organisation.
How can breastfeeding and working be reconciled?
Working breastfeeding mothers practise different models for continuing to nourish their child with their precious and unique breast milk, depending on their options.
For example
- Frauke simply takes her little Oskar (3 months) with her to her workplace. "But it's also easier for me than for employed women," she says. "I don't have to ask anyone's permission because, as a self-employed tax specialist, I'm in charge here in my office." However, Frauke knows that this model is only feasible for her and her son as long as Oskar is still very small and sleeps a lot. "So I'll have to think about something else soon."
- other mothers have their baby looked after by a childminder or in a daycare centre near their workplace during working hours. Alissa has even managed to secure a place for her daughter Azra (6 months) in the company's own daycare centre. "I can just pop over there at breastfeeding times and breastfeed my child," she says happily.
- Elly (8 months) is looked after by her father during her mother's working hours. He then brings his daughter to her mum's workplace for every breastfeeding session - usually twice a working day. "We don't live far from the company where I work," says Neele. This method can work well with any other person looking after the baby if the childcare centre and the mother's workplace are relatively close to each other.
- Clara does it the other way round: she goes home once during her working hours to breastfeed her Anton (5 months). This also works well because the boy is looked after by his grandmother in the meantime and Clara's workplace is not far away.
- Yildiz has been working part-time again since the end of her maternity leave and has scheduled Asel's (now 4 months) breastfeeding times at the beginning and end of her daily working hours. "This shortens my working hours so that my baby can manage without another breastfeed during my absence," she reports.
- Before returning to work, many mothers have already taken care of themselves by Pump down a certain frozen Breast milk supply created. A carer can draw on this if the child needs a bottle during the mother's absence. Malva, for example, made provisions for her child in this way. "And when I went back to work, I regularly pumped breast milk at work, stored it in the fridge here and transported it home chilled after work. This way, my home supply of breast milk for my child is always preserved - and so is my milk production!"
Of course, a child's breastfeeding requirements, especially with very young children, can also be higher than in these examples and therefore require longer breastfeeding periods. The age of the child and previous breastfeeding behaviour are decisive.
By the way: travelling time between the workplace and breastfeeding location is included in the breastfeeding period. not included.
Most of the models presented here also require that the child is looked after elsewhere during the mother's working hours. Of course, you have to organise this, which is often not easy. If it is possible, you could follow one of the examples mentioned here. But will an employer go along with all this? Of course - he has to, simply because the law obliges him to do so!
What is a "suitable" room for breastfeeding at work?
This is not defined in more detail in the Maternity Protection Act. However, mothers who are breastfeeding or expressing milk know from experience what they need as a suitable room in their workplace: It should be lockable and easily accessible, it may also be small - and it should be equipped with a clean storage area, comfortable seating, a sink and a refrigerator. Your employer must provide you with these basic conditions.
This is also confirmed by the Workplace Ordinancewhich, among other things, specifies the requirements for break rooms and break areas, standby rooms and facilities for pregnant and breastfeeding women. It states, among other things: If pregnant women or breastfeeding mothers are employed, facilities for lying down, resting and breastfeeding must be available at the workplace or in the immediate vicinity in sufficient numbers to ensure that they can be used at all times. Privacy must be guaranteed during use.
The Technical Rules for Workplaces also state that the room in which a working mother breastfeeds or expresses breast milk must be free from vibrations, ambient noise, dust, vapours or odours - and also free from work-related disturbances. It should also have daylight and sufficient lighting and temperature.
Talk to the employer as early as possible
Actually, all legal provisions that are intended to prevent risks to pregnant women, breastfeeding mothers and their children and to support breastfeeding by working mothers are also easy to put together using common sense. This way, your employer will quickly understand what you need as a breastfeeding mother after your return to work, even beyond the Maternity Protection Act, the Workplace Ordinance and occupational health and safety.
What's more, your employer can count themselves lucky if you are back at work but are still breastfeeding your child. This is because breastfeeding mothers are demonstrably less likely to fall ill - and their children are also better protected against illness thanks to the outstanding properties of breast milk. This gives your employer double security that you will rarely be absent due to illness.
What is equally important is the solidarity of your employer with you as a breastfeeding mother, and subsequently the solidarity of your colleagues! This support in a family-friendly company will be very valuable for you to set up and organise everything exactly the way that is best for you and your child.
This is another reason why I would advise you to talk to your employer at an early stage about how you envisage your return to work as a breastfeeding mother, what form of organisation you would like to practise with regard to breastfeeding and what good conditions you may need in the company for your breastfeeding times. Perhaps you can look for a suitable room in the company together during your pregnancy where you can breastfeed or express your milk undisturbed later on and rest in between. If necessary, this room can then be set up with the necessary equipment in good time before your return.
Such a family- and breastfeeding-friendly climate in the company will also give you more security and confidence when you return to work.
In any case, however, the employer is and remains primarily responsible for ensuring maternity protection in their company. It is solely up to the employer to observe and implement the legal requirements of the Maternity Protection Act regarding health protection, protection against dismissal and the right to benefits. "Intentional or negligent non-compliance with maternity protection regulations can be punished with a fine of up to 5,000 euros, in some cases up to 30,000 euros, or as a criminal offence," the Federal Ministry for Family Affairs informs employers in the "Guide to Maternity Protection". Employers can only require an employee who is still breastfeeding to present a "breastfeeding certificate", which is issued by a midwife or gynaecologist. The costs for this are again borne by the employer.
However, constructive and early discussions with your employer are the best way to prevent potential conflicts. However, it can be very helpful if you, as a breastfeeding working mother, are aware of your maternity protection rights.
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