u/The_Lucky_Platypus

For context, I no longer pump, but I’m a boss with an employee who does and I want better for her.

When I had my baby, my job (specifically the female HR administrator that deals with all things baby leave/etc) basically told me to try and book the conference room if I needed to pump. Well, many people have keys to the conf room, and it’s always booked for meetings, so I wasn’t comfortable using it.

I only have an open cubicle, so I tried to advocate for myself and they erected a small cubical inside of a closet on the floor below my office area. It had a fridge, a chair, and a small side table. Problem was that though the cubical had a door, it wasn’t ceiling height, so people kept peeking into it wondering why there was a cubicle in the lab coat closet, which had a ton of traffic. I searched some laws, and found that areas provided to pump had to be a certain height, brought that back to the company, and they had to bring it to the ceiling.

Now, I don’t want to sound unappreciative, but having to come there every 2-3 hours (the time my baby was feeding at the time) and pump, plus cleaning the parts, plus the travel time, and lugging all my stuff back and forth. (There was no sink so I’d also have to go to the cafeteria if I wanted to wash anything, but tried to just use wipes.) Well, you can imagine it took so much time from my work day, and the constant disruptions impacted my work.

It wasn’t long before I just stopped going to the room bc it was so far. I ended up (when my boss was in meetings or not in office) used her office to pump which at the time was near my desk, or pump in my car. Eventually, I started pumping less bc of the disruption it made to my work which lowered my supply and I had to combo feed. It sucked, but I was the only one pumping, they technically were adhering to the laws, so I just let it go.

My boss ended up moving her office downstairs next to this pumping room, and then after having her 2nd baby, attempted to use it, but found the same issues I did, even though the room was on the opposite wall of her office. She eventually just pumped in her office and kept the door locked when doing so, and that worked for her.

Welp, my employee just came back to work, and facilities gave her access to the “pump room” (really just a closet in a closet) upon request. Luckily, they’ve moved the lab coats so there’s not as much traffic, but had similar issues I did. So she started pumping at her desk (with the ones that go in your bra) by like day 3 back at work. She told me about it, and I asked her if there was anything I could do, maybe I could talk to HR/Facilities if she could use an office upstairs, or if they could just close off her cubical. She agreed to the closing off her cube, and so I asked if that would be possible. Welp, HR told her it doesn’t meet the requirements, so she’s not allowed to pump AT ALL at her desk, or in any office even if it’s not in use, and she HAS to use the “pump room”. She was so upset, and I feel like I made things worse, bc now she can’t even use her (in bra) pump at her desk.

I don’t know what to do anymore. I’ve tried to go back to HR and they just say it “doesn’t meet the requirements”. (Assuming they mean fridge access and height of space.)

I’ve felt so terrible about this. I offered to my employee (who was already working hybrid schedule) to just work from home entirely if she wanted, whatever she needed to support her and her baby. I also, out of my own pocket, went and bought a portable bottle/pump part dishwasher/sterilizer/dryer and a separate drying rack since there’s no sink access in that room. I also got a bunch of other things to make it better/more comfortable: ice packs, breast milk bags, labels, storage containers, pump/bottle wipes, a rolling cart/desk and attachment for cup/bottle holder, pump chargers for two different pumps. I figured if anyone else has a baby, they could use all this stuff too.

Since I know she uses a spectra, I’m going to bring in mine (I can go online and get some replacement parts for her) and just leave that one in the pump room. This way she never has to worry about lugging hers back and forth to work. And again, if anyone else has a baby and ends up pumping and needs to use it, they could just plug in their own parts.

I just feel bad for making the situation worse. And I know other people have it worse, and it wasn’t a terrible situation, but I just didn’t want her to end up how I did. I just need a sanity check. Was the request unreasonable? Should I be more thankful of the space provided? Did I mess everything up for my employee?

Edit: I forgot to also mention that the only other person that was pregnant recently before me, was in a different building. She was told the same thing about using a conf room, but the only conf room in her building had one wall of window, barely covering by some flimsy blinds, so she ended up just pumping in her car. And within a short period, stopped pumping all together for the same reasons regarding it being a disruption to have to constantly go to her car.

For context, I no longer pump, but I’m a boss with an employee who does and I want better for her.

When I had my baby, my job (specifically the female HR administrator that deals with all things baby leave/etc) basically told me to try and book the conference room if I needed to pump. Well, many people have keys to the conf room, and it’s always booked for meetings, so I wasn’t comfortable using it.

I only have an open cubicle, so I tried to advocate for myself and they erected a small cubical inside of a closet on the floor below my office area. It had a fridge, a chair, and a small side table. Problem was that though the cubical had a door, it wasn’t ceiling height, so people kept peeking into it wondering why there was a cubicle in the lab coat closet, which had a ton of traffic. I searched some laws, and found that areas provided to pump had to be a certain height, brought that back to the company, and they had to bring it to the ceiling.

Now, I don’t want to sound unappreciative, but having to come there every 2-3 hours (the time my baby was feeding at the time) and pump, plus cleaning the parts, plus the travel time, and lugging all my stuff back and forth. (There was no sink so I’d also have to go to the cafeteria if I wanted to wash anything, but tried to just use wipes.) Well, you can imagine it took so much time from my work day, and the constant disruptions impacted my work.

It wasn’t long before I just stopped going to the room bc it was so far. I ended up (when my boss was in meetings or not in office) used her office to pump which at the time was near my desk, or pump in my car. Eventually, I started pumping less bc of the disruption it made to my work which lowered my supply and I had to combo feed. It sucked, but I was the only one pumping, they technically were adhering to the laws, so I just let it go.

My boss ended up moving her office downstairs next to this pumping room, and then after having her 2nd baby, attempted to use it, but found the same issues I did, even though the room was on the opposite wall of her office. She eventually just pumped in her office and kept the door locked when doing so, and that worked for her.

Welp, my employee just came back to work, and facilities gave her access to the “pump room” (really just a closet in a closet) upon request. Luckily, they’ve moved the lab coats so there’s not as much traffic, but had similar issues I did. So she started pumping at her desk (with the ones that go in your bra) by like day 3 back at work. She told me about it, and I asked her if there was anything I could do, maybe I could talk to HR/Facilities if she could use an office upstairs, or if they could just close off her cubical. She agreed to the closing off her cube, and so I asked if that would be possible. Welp, HR told her it doesn’t meet the requirements, so she’s not allowed to pump AT ALL at her desk, or in any office even if it’s not in use, and she HAS to use the “pump room”. She was so upset, and I feel like I made things worse, bc now she can’t even use her (in bra) pump at her desk.

I don’t know what to do anymore. I’ve tried to go back to HR and they just say it “doesn’t meet the requirements”. (Assuming they mean fridge access and height of space.)

I’ve felt so terrible about this. I offered to my employee (who was already working hybrid schedule) to just work from home entirely if she wanted, whatever she needed to support her and her baby. I also, out of my own pocket, went and bought a portable bottle/pump part dishwasher/sterilizer/dryer and a separate drying rack since there’s no sink access in that room. I also got a bunch of other things to make it better/more comfortable: ice packs, breast milk bags, labels, storage containers, pump/bottle wipes, a rolling cart/desk and attachment for cup/bottle holder, pump chargers for two different pumps. I figured if anyone else has a baby, they could use all this stuff too.

Since I know she uses a spectra, I’m going to bring in mine (I can go online and get some replacement parts for her) and just leave that one in the pump room. This way she never has to worry about lugging hers back and forth to work. And again, if anyone else has a baby and ends up pumping and needs to use it, they could just plug in their own parts.

I just feel bad for making the situation worse. And I know other people have it worse, and it wasn’t a terrible situation, but I just didn’t want her to end up how I did. I just need a sanity check. Was the request unreasonable? Should I be more thankful of the space provided? Did I mess everything up for my employee?

Edit: I forgot to also mention that the only other person that was pregnant recently before me, was in a different building. She was told the same thing about using a conf room, but the only conf room in her building had one wall of window, barely covering by some flimsy blinds, so she ended up just pumping in her car. And within a short period, stopped pumping all together for the same reasons regarding it being a disruption to have to constantly go to her car.

For context, I no longer pump, but I’m a boss with an employee who does and I want better for her.

When I had my baby, my job (specifically the female HR administrator that deals with all things baby leave/etc) basically told me to try and book the conference room if I needed to pump. Well, many people have keys to the conf room, and it’s always booked for meetings, so I wasn’t comfortable using it.

I only have an open cubicle, so I tried to advocate for myself and they erected a small cubical inside of a closet on the floor below my office area. It had a fridge, a chair, and a small side table. Problem was that though the cubical had a door, it wasn’t ceiling height, so people kept peeking into it wondering why there was a cubicle in the lab coat closet, which had a ton of traffic. I searched some laws, and found that areas provided to pump had to be a certain height, brought that back to the company, and they had to bring it to the ceiling.

Now, I don’t want to sound unappreciative, but having to come there every 2-3 hours (the time my baby was feeding at the time) and pump, plus cleaning the parts, plus the travel time, and lugging all my stuff back and forth. (There was no sink so I’d also have to go to the cafeteria if I wanted to wash anything, but tried to just use wipes.) Well, you can imagine it took so much time from my work day, and the constant disruptions impacted my work.

It wasn’t long before I just stopped going to the room bc it was so far. I ended up (when my boss was in meetings or not in office) used her office to pump which at the time was near my desk, or pump in my car. Eventually, I started pumping less bc of the disruption it made to my work which lowered my supply and I had to combo feed. It sucked, but I was the only one pumping, they technically were adhering to the laws, so I just let it go.

My boss ended up moving her office downstairs next to this pumping room, and then after having her 2nd baby, attempted to use it, but found the same issues I did, even though the room was on the opposite wall of her office. She eventually just pumped in her office and kept the door locked when doing so, and that worked for her.

Welp, my employee just came back to work, and facilities gave her access to the “pump room” (really just a closet in a closet) upon request. Luckily, they’ve moved the lab coats so there’s not as much traffic, but had similar issues I did. So she started pumping at her desk (with the ones that go in your bra) by like day 3 back at work. She told me about it, and I asked her if there was anything I could do, maybe I could talk to HR/Facilities if she could use an office upstairs, or if they could just close off her cubical. She agreed to the closing off her cube, and so I asked if that would be possible. Welp, HR told her it doesn’t meet the requirements, so she’s not allowed to pump AT ALL at her desk, or in any office even if it’s not in use, and she HAS to use the “pump room”. She was so upset, and I feel like I made things worse, bc now she can’t even use her (in bra) pump at her desk.

I don’t know what to do anymore. I’ve tried to go back to HR and they just say it “doesn’t meet the requirements”. (Assuming they mean fridge access and height of space.)

I’ve felt so terrible about this. I offered to my employee (who was already working hybrid schedule) to just work from home entirely if she wanted, whatever she needed to support her and her baby. I also, out of my own pocket, went and bought a portable bottle/pump part dishwasher/sterilizer/dryer and a separate drying rack since there’s no sink access in that room. I also got a bunch of other things to make it better/more comfortable: ice packs, breast milk bags, labels, storage containers, pump/bottle wipes, a rolling cart/desk and attachment for cup/bottle holder, pump chargers for two different pumps. I figured if anyone else has a baby, they could use all this stuff too.

Since I know she uses a spectra, I’m going to bring in mine (I can go online and get some replacement parts for her) and just leave that one in the pump room. This way she never has to worry about lugging hers back and forth to work. And again, if anyone else has a baby and ends up pumping and needs to use it, they could just plug in their own parts.

I just feel bad for making the situation worse. And I know other people have it worse, and it wasn’t a terrible situation, but I just didn’t want her to end up how I did. I just need a sanity check. Was the request unreasonable? Should I be more thankful of the space provided? Did I mess everything up for my employee?

Edit: I forgot to also mention that the only other person that was pregnant recently before me, was in a different building. She was told the same thing about using a conf room, but the only conf room in her building had one wall of window, barely covering by some flimsy blinds, so she ended up just pumping in her car. And within a short period, stopped pumping all together for the same reasons regarding it being a disruption to have to constantly go to her car.

For context, I no longer pump, but I’m a boss with an employee who does and I want better for her.

When I had my baby, my job (specifically the female HR administrator that deals with all things baby leave/etc) basically told me to try and book the conference room if I needed to pump. Well, many people have keys to the conf room, and it’s always booked for meetings, so I wasn’t comfortable using it.

I only have an open cubicle, so I tried to advocate for myself and they erected a small cubical inside of a closet on the floor below my office area. It had a fridge, a chair, and a small side table. Problem was that though the cubical had a door, it wasn’t ceiling height, so people kept peeking into it wondering why there was a cubicle in the lab coat closet, which had a ton of traffic. I searched some laws, and found that areas provided to pump had to be a certain height, brought that back to the company, and they had to bring it to the ceiling.

Now, I don’t want to sound unappreciative, but having to come there every 2-3 hours (the time my baby was feeding at the time) and pump, plus cleaning the parts, plus the travel time, and lugging all my stuff back and forth. (There was no sink so I’d also have to go to the cafeteria if I wanted to wash anything, but tried to just use wipes.) Well, you can imagine it took so much time from my work day, and the constant disruptions impacted my work.

It wasn’t long before I just stopped going to the room bc it was so far. I ended up (when my boss was in meetings or not in office) used her office to pump which at the time was near my desk, or pump in my car. Eventually, I started pumping less bc of the disruption it made to my work which lowered my supply and I had to combo feed. It sucked, but I was the only one pumping, they technically were adhering to the laws, so I just let it go.

My boss ended up moving her office downstairs next to this pumping room, and then after having her 2nd baby, attempted to use it, but found the same issues I did, even though the room was on the opposite wall of her office. She eventually just pumped in her office and kept the door locked when doing so, and that worked for her.

Welp, my employee just came back to work, and facilities gave her access to the “pump room” (really just a closet in a closet) upon request. Luckily, they’ve moved the lab coats so there’s not as much traffic, but had similar issues I did. So she started pumping at her desk (with the ones that go in your bra) by like day 3 back at work. She told me about it, and I asked her if there was anything I could do, maybe I could talk to HR/Facilities if she could use an office upstairs, or if they could just close off her cubical. She agreed to the closing off her cube, and so I asked if that would be possible. Welp, HR told her it doesn’t meet the requirements, so she’s not allowed to pump AT ALL at her desk, or in any office even if it’s not in use, and she HAS to use the “pump room”. She was so upset, and I feel like I made things worse, bc now she can’t even use her (in bra) pump at her desk.

I don’t know what to do anymore. I’ve tried to go back to HR and they just say it “doesn’t meet the requirements”. (Assuming they mean fridge access and height of space.)

I’ve felt so terrible about this. I offered to my employee (who was already working hybrid schedule) to just work from home entirely if she wanted, whatever she needed to support her and her baby. I also, out of my own pocket, went and bought a portable bottle/pump part dishwasher/sterilizer/dryer and a separate drying rack since there’s no sink access in that room. I also got a bunch of other things to make it better/more comfortable: ice packs, breast milk bags, labels, storage containers, pump/bottle wipes, a rolling cart/desk and attachment for cup/bottle holder, pump chargers for two different pumps. I figured if anyone else has a baby, they could use all this stuff too.

Since I know she uses a spectra, I’m going to bring in mine (I can go online and get some replacement parts for her) and just leave that one in the pump room. This way she never has to worry about lugging hers back and forth to work. And again, if anyone else has a baby and ends up pumping and needs to use it, they could just plug in their own parts.

I just feel bad for making the situation worse. And I know other people have it worse, and it wasn’t a terrible situation, but I just didn’t want her to end up how I did. I just need a sanity check. Was the request unreasonable? Should I be more thankful of the space provided? Did I mess everything up for my employee?

Edit: I forgot to also mention that the only other person that was pregnant recently before me, was in a different building. She was told the same thing about using a conf room, but the only conf room in her building had one wall of window, barely covering by some flimsy blinds, so she ended up just pumping in her car. And within a short period, stopped pumping all together for the same reasons regarding it being a disruption to have to constantly go to her car.

For context, I no longer pump, but I’m a boss with an employee who does and I want better for her.

When I had my baby, my job (specifically the female HR administrator that deals with all things baby leave/etc) basically told me to try and book the conference room if I needed to pump. Well, many people have keys to the conf room, and it’s always booked for meetings, so I wasn’t comfortable using it.

I only have an open cubicle, so I tried to advocate for myself and they erected a small cubical inside of a closet on the floor below my office area. It had a fridge, a chair, and a small side table. Problem was that though the cubical had a door, it wasn’t ceiling height, so people kept peeking into it wondering why there was a cubicle in the lab coat closet, which had a ton of traffic. I searched some laws, and found that areas provided to pump had to be a certain height, brought that back to the company, and they had to bring it to the ceiling.

Now, I don’t want to sound unappreciative, but having to come there every 2-3 hours (the time my baby was feeding at the time) and pump, plus cleaning the parts, plus the travel time, and lugging all my stuff back and forth. (There was no sink so I’d also have to go to the cafeteria if I wanted to wash anything, but tried to just use wipes.) Well, you can imagine it took so much time from my work day, and the constant disruptions impacted my work.

It wasn’t long before I just stopped going to the room bc it was so far. I ended up (when my boss was in meetings or not in office) used her office to pump which at the time was near my desk, or pump in my car. Eventually, I started pumping less bc of the disruption it made to my work which lowered my supply and I had to combo feed. It sucked, but I was the only one pumping, they technically were adhering to the laws, so I just let it go.

My boss ended up moving her office downstairs next to this pumping room, and then after having her 2nd baby, attempted to use it, but found the same issues I did, even though the room was on the opposite wall of her office. She eventually just pumped in her office and kept the door locked when doing so, and that worked for her.

Welp, my employee just came back to work, and facilities gave her access to the “pump room” (really just a closet in a closet) upon request. Luckily, they’ve moved the lab coats so there’s not as much traffic, but had similar issues I did. So she started pumping at her desk (with the ones that go in your bra) by like day 3 back at work. She told me about it, and I asked her if there was anything I could do, maybe I could talk to HR/Facilities if she could use an office upstairs, or if they could just close off her cubical. She agreed to the closing off her cube, and so I asked if that would be possible. Welp, HR told her it doesn’t meet the requirements, so she’s not allowed to pump AT ALL at her desk, or in any office even if it’s not in use, and she HAS to use the “pump room”. She was so upset, and I feel like I made things worse, bc now she can’t even use her (in bra) pump at her desk.

I don’t know what to do anymore. I’ve tried to go back to HR and they just say it “doesn’t meet the requirements”. (Assuming they mean fridge access and height of space.)

I’ve felt so terrible about this. I offered to my employee (who was already working hybrid schedule) to just work from home entirely if she wanted, whatever she needed to support her and her baby. I also, out of my own pocket, went and bought a portable bottle/pump part dishwasher/sterilizer/dryer and a separate drying rack since there’s no sink access in that room. I also got a bunch of other things to make it better/more comfortable: ice packs, breast milk bags, labels, storage containers, pump/bottle wipes, a rolling cart/desk and attachment for cup/bottle holder, pump chargers for two different pumps. I figured if anyone else has a baby, they could use all this stuff too.

Since I know she uses a spectra, I’m going to bring in mine (I can go online and get some replacement parts for her) and just leave that one in the pump room. This way she never has to worry about lugging hers back and forth to work. And again, if anyone else has a baby and ends up pumping and needs to use it, they could just plug in their own parts.

I just feel bad for making the situation worse. And I know other people have it worse, and it wasn’t a terrible situation, but I just didn’t want her to end up how I did. I just need a sanity check. Was the request unreasonable? Should I be more thankful of the space provided? Did I mess everything up for my employee?

Edit: I forgot to also mention that the only other person that was pregnant recently before me, was in a different building. She was told the same thing about using a conf room, but the only conf room in her building had one wall of window, barely covering by some flimsy blinds, so she ended up just pumping in her car. And within a short period, stopped pumping all together for the same reasons regarding it being a disruption to have to constantly go to her car.