As we enter into the period of the 16 Days of Activism for No Violence Against Women and Children Campaign, it is important for the workforce to understand their rights and for employers to understand their duties. I presented a paper on breast-feeding at the workplace in Johannesburg for the South African Civil Society for Women’s Adolescent’s and Children’s Health
coalition.
In investigating the rights and duties, I have spoken to about 50 small companies in the Western Cape to find out how they address the issue of women and breast-feeding in the workplace.
Not one company had a policy and none of the employers could say whether they, as employers, believed they had any duties toward women who were breast-feeding.
Furthermore, I spoke to numerous shop stewards who organised in many companies. All told me that they knew there were rights and duties, but they were low on their agenda.
Cape Argus live editor Lance Witten chats to labour law expert Michael Bagraim about the rights mothers have when it comes to breastfeeding in the workplace. Video: Matthew van Schalkwyk/ANA Video
More shockingly, I spoke to a few Department of Labour inspectors who likewise knew little about the Government Gazette issued under the Basic Conditions of Employment Act with regard to the Code of Good Practice on the protection of employees during pregnancy and after the birth of the child.
There is a code and it protects women who work during pregnancy and the many who return to work while they are breast-feeding.
The objective of the code is to provide guidelines for employers and employees concerning the protection and health of women against potential hazards in the work environment during pregnancy, after the birth of the child and while breast-feeding.
While the code might be a guide, it certainly has force of law and needs to be respected and implemented if possible.
Our constitution protects the right to bodily and psychological integrity, which includes the right to make decisions concerning reproduction and gives every person the right to health services, including reproductive health care. It must be noted that no person may be discriminated against or dismissed on account of being pregnant.
Breast-feeding employees cannot be made to perform work that’s hazardous to her or the child’s health. The employer is supposed to do a risk assessment for expectant or new mothers and this assessment must be reviewed regularly. All pregnant or breast-feeding employees must be informed about the risks.
Breast-feeding is an important issue and working women, in particular, need protection against discrimination and harassment because they often face difficulties when breast-feeding at their jobs.
It is commonly accepted that human milk through breast-feeding is the best food for babies and children. Breast milk replacements are enormously expensive and breast-fed babies are reputed to have a lower risk of sickness.
Labour law expert Michael Bagraim will also answer all your labour-related questions. Picture: Tracey Adams/ANA Pictures
The benefits for the employer are that breast-fed children will be healthy and therefore parents will not miss so many hours of work caring for them. It is also reputed to translate into greater productivity from mothers who have healthy children.
If an employer makes arrangements to allow for woman to breast-feed in the workplace, the women often return to work sooner after taking maternity leave.
It is suggested that once employers become knowledgeable about why breast-feeding is so important they will take the first steps to promote it.
Some of the larger companies are progressive and have made arrangements to enable women to have either facilities to accommodate small children and babies and/or flexi-time. Once an employer creates a user-friendly environment, the employer will be rewarded with happy and productive staff.
* Michael Bagraim is a labour lawyer. This column is kindly sponsored by O’Brien Recruitment.
** The views expressed here are not necessarily those of Independent Media