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Whilst there are no legal requirements on employees to inform their employers that they are pregnant or a new mother, they should bear in mind that their employer is not required to take any specific action until written notification has been provided. It is, therefore, important for the employee and her child's health and safety that employees are advised to provide written notification as early as possible. Employers can also ask for a certificate from their employee's GP or midwife stating that she is pregnant.
Employers should take action to ensure that their workers, who are or in the future could be a new or expectant mother, are not exposed to any significant risk.
There are two stages to the action employers must take:
Employers should:
Employers should conduct a specific risk assessment on receipt of written notification from an employee that she is pregnant, has given birth in the last six months or is breastfeeding. This must take into account any advice provided by the woman's health professional.
If any risks are identified, then employers must take action to remove, reduce or control the risk. If the risk cannot be removed employers must:
The following checklist is a useful tool to help identify risks that could be harmful to the health and safety of new and expectant mothers and their children.
E.g., chemical handling (handling drugs or specific chemicals such as pesticides, lead etc.).
It is for the mother to decide how long she wishes to breastfeed and returning to work does not mean that she has to stop. On returning to work, she should provide her employer with written notification that she is breastfeeding. Ideally, she should do this before returning to work. Her employer must then conduct a specific risk assessment.
New and expectant mothers can work nights, unless there is a specific work risk and her GP/midwife has provided a medical certificate stating that she must not work nights. If this is the case then her employer must offer her suitable alternative day work on the same terms and conditions and if that is not possible, then suspend her from work on paid leave for as long as necessary to protect her health and safety and/or that of her child.
The Workplace Regulations and Approved Code of Practice require employers to provide suitable facilities for pregnant and breastfeeding mothers to rest. Where necessary these should include somewhere for the woman to lie down.
The Health and Safety Executive recommends that it is good practice for employers to provide a private, healthy and safe environment for nursing mothers to express and store milk (but this is not a legal requirement). It is not suitable to use toilets for this purpose.
For more information, visit the Health and Safety Executive's (HSE) website, which has links to sites that can give you more information on this topic. Their link can be found below:
