Tips for Supervisors / Business Administrators: 

Faculty and staff who continue chest/breastfeeding after returning to work need the support of their coworkers, supervisors, and others in the workplace. Supervisors can support parents in a variety of ways before leave starts, and after parents return to work. Here’s how:

• Review Penn’s Lactation Policy and guidelines to comply with the Lactation Amendment to the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938, which requires employers to provide reasonable break time and a place, other than a restroom, that is private and clean for an employee to express milk.
• Before leave begins, work together with the employee to complete the Lactation Plan Document, which covers the following three critical components:
  • Physical Space to Pump. If there isn’t a lactation room within a reasonable distance, think creatively about temporary space. The law requires that this space not be a bathroom, be hidden from view, and shielded from intrusion. It’s important to engage the employee in thinking creatively about temporary space (e.g. vacant office, faculty member on sabbatical, temporarily shifting work spaces). Lactation room planning calculations developed by the CDC advise one lactation station for every 200 employees; and up to four employees can share one lactation station each day. Review lactation space requirements.
  • Break Times. Understand that staff and faculty needs vary and pumping takes time. Pumping typically requires 2-3 breaks during the day, with each break lasting 15-30 minutes. The further away the space is, the longer the staff or faculty member is going to need to be away to pump. Staff and faculty using designated lactation spaces in some campus locations can also experience lengthy wait times.
  • Milk Storage. Work with the staff or faculty member to plan for storage. Chest/breastfeeding staff and faculty will need to store milk in either a cooler with ice packs or in a refrigerator in a low traffic area. Consider working with your department to rent or purchase a mini refrigerator. 
• Be prepared to adjust the plan once the baby is born.
• Exercise sensitivity related to the following:
  • Not all parents know whether they will breastfeed before their baby arrives.
  • Parents choose to breastfeed for a variety of reasons.
  • Not all parents will feel comfortable discussing their chest/breastfeeding choices.
  • It is important to be sensitive to the privacy of the new parent's choices.
• Resources
  • The Business Case for Breastfeeding: Steps for Creating a Breastfeeding Friendly Worksite
  • CDC Healthier Worksite Initiative, Workplace Lactation Support Program Toolkit 
  • EEOC Enforcement Guidance: Unlawful Disparate Treatment of Workers with Caregiving Responsibilities 
  • The Surgeon General's Call to Action to Support Breastfeeding  
• For help addressing special circumstances or if you are not sure what steps to take, contact your department’s Human Resources representative or the Worklife Office at 215.898.7729.

Sources: CDC Healthier Worksite Initiative, Womenshealth.gov