Received from: College of Podiatry
This Congress demands that nursing parents are paid when they feed their child during working hours.
For example, whilst the NHS in England and Wales will provide facilities to breastfeed in work time, some are refusing to pay a parent for the actual time that they feed their child.
This Congress believes that in all workplaces parents should be given paid time off to feed their child – especially when space has been provided for this purpose. Although breastfeeding breaks to express milk in a private space are typically included in policies across most organisations, the act of feeding a child during work time often is not.
Supporting nursing parents in the workplace is essential for promoting family wellbeing and child health. Paid time off to feed children not only facilitates better work-life balance but also contributes to improved employee morale and retention.
We call on all workplaces to ensure that nursing parents have the option for paid time off to feed their child without facing stigma or penalties.
We therefore urge the TUC to actively campaign to remove barriers for parents in their workplaces and to promote policies that ensure that parents and their children are treated with the respect and dignity they deserve.
Royal College of Podiatry