UGH.
On Aug 11, 2014, at 4:15 PM, "Heather wrote:
"Hi Kim [Kim is my boss],
I spoke to Mike [other boss, under Kim] today, and I wanted to let you know that I’ve been using our conference room as a place to express milk during the day. I covered the glass on the door with paper and have been leaving a post-it asking people not to come in (there’s no lock on the door unfortunately). Today there were job interviews happening and I had to use the supply closet. It was fine, but not ideal. I asked Darlene [office manager] to let me know when people outside of the Crisis Team are going to use the conference room so I can try to plan around it. Long story short, I will be pumping for many many months to come, so I’d like to throw my hat in the ring for Jenna’s desk once she moves on [Jenna was the last person who was hired before I was, and she sits in an actual office]. I apologize if I sound like a vulture, trying to snap up office space, but it would be nice to be able to pump in there when Kyo [team member, senior to me, male, and the other person with a desk in that office] is on the road, and then one of the newer hires can benefit from the central location of my desk [I work in a goddamn cubical in a block of six and it's grand central all day, every day]. Let me know if you think this is a good idea."
Kim wrote back to me today. I cannot believe that this is coming from a woman. A woman with two grown children:
"Hi heather, I understand your dilemma. For now please use my office I would also suggest moving a comfy chair from the conference room into the bathroom. The ladies often use the men's already or can walk down the hall.
We will make decisions re the office later. Using the office to express would not be a good idea given the charts are in there and at times we need quick access to them for info May also be uncomfortable for kyo or office mate
I'm not saying no to office but mike and I need to think thru logistics. Even if you were in that office I would prefer you didn't use it for that purpose. My office or the bathroom with a comfy chair makes the most sense to me.
Kim"
So many different streams of rage. How can she as a Boss, Woman, Mother, Person, think that telling me to make food for my baby in the bathroom is not disgusting and inappropriate? Even if you don't personally think it's unacceptable, the department of labor and the Affordable Care Act specify that it is: http://www.dol.gov/whd/nursingmothers/faqBTNM.htm
"If the only space available at a work site is a bathroom, can employers require employees to express breast milk there?
ANSWER: No. The statute specifically states that the space provided for employees to express breast milk cannot be a bathroom."
"Employers are required to provide a reasonable amount of break time and a space to express milk as frequently as needed by the nursing mother, for up to one year following the birth of the employee’s child. The frequency of breaks needed to express breast milk as well as the duration of each break will likely vary. The space provided by the employer cannot be a bathroom, and it must be shielded from view and free from intrusion by coworkers or the public."
If I can Google that, she sure as hell should've before sending me that email. Now I am in the supremely uncomfortable position of contradicting my boss and fighting for my right to hygiene and privacy in a company that is supposed to be progressive and pro-family. Seriously, these logistics should have been tackled before I even came back.
"Hi Kim [Kim is my boss],
I spoke to Mike [other boss, under Kim] today, and I wanted to let you know that I’ve been using our conference room as a place to express milk during the day. I covered the glass on the door with paper and have been leaving a post-it asking people not to come in (there’s no lock on the door unfortunately). Today there were job interviews happening and I had to use the supply closet. It was fine, but not ideal. I asked Darlene [office manager] to let me know when people outside of the Crisis Team are going to use the conference room so I can try to plan around it. Long story short, I will be pumping for many many months to come, so I’d like to throw my hat in the ring for Jenna’s desk once she moves on [Jenna was the last person who was hired before I was, and she sits in an actual office]. I apologize if I sound like a vulture, trying to snap up office space, but it would be nice to be able to pump in there when Kyo [team member, senior to me, male, and the other person with a desk in that office] is on the road, and then one of the newer hires can benefit from the central location of my desk [I work in a goddamn cubical in a block of six and it's grand central all day, every day]. Let me know if you think this is a good idea."
Kim wrote back to me today. I cannot believe that this is coming from a woman. A woman with two grown children:
"Hi heather, I understand your dilemma. For now please use my office I would also suggest moving a comfy chair from the conference room into the bathroom. The ladies often use the men's already or can walk down the hall.
We will make decisions re the office later. Using the office to express would not be a good idea given the charts are in there and at times we need quick access to them for info May also be uncomfortable for kyo or office mate
I'm not saying no to office but mike and I need to think thru logistics. Even if you were in that office I would prefer you didn't use it for that purpose. My office or the bathroom with a comfy chair makes the most sense to me.
Kim"
So many different streams of rage. How can she as a Boss, Woman, Mother, Person, think that telling me to make food for my baby in the bathroom is not disgusting and inappropriate? Even if you don't personally think it's unacceptable, the department of labor and the Affordable Care Act specify that it is: http://www.dol.gov/whd/nursingmothers/faqBTNM.htm
"If the only space available at a work site is a bathroom, can employers require employees to express breast milk there?
ANSWER: No. The statute specifically states that the space provided for employees to express breast milk cannot be a bathroom."
"Employers are required to provide a reasonable amount of break time and a space to express milk as frequently as needed by the nursing mother, for up to one year following the birth of the employee’s child. The frequency of breaks needed to express breast milk as well as the duration of each break will likely vary. The space provided by the employer cannot be a bathroom, and it must be shielded from view and free from intrusion by coworkers or the public."
If I can Google that, she sure as hell should've before sending me that email. Now I am in the supremely uncomfortable position of contradicting my boss and fighting for my right to hygiene and privacy in a company that is supposed to be progressive and pro-family. Seriously, these logistics should have been tackled before I even came back.