Breastfeeding and Work

Employment protection laws actively support you in continuing to breastfeed while working. As soon as you inform your employer that you are breastfeeding, several protective regulations take effect.

You are entitled to paid time off for breastfeeding during the first 12 months after birth. For full-time work, you are entitled to at least twice 30 minutes or once 60 minutes per day. These breastfeeding breaks count as working time and may not be deducted from regular breaks or made up before or after work.

In addition, throughout the entire breastfeeding period, you are exempt from overtime, night work, and generally also from work on Sundays and public holidays. Your employer must review your working conditions and eliminate any risks to you and your breastfed child.

Important: Workplace health protection and adjusted working hours apply for the entire breastfeeding period, without time limit. Only the right to paid time off ends with your child's first birthday.

Employment protection laws apply to all mothers in an employment relationship. This includes home workers, domestic workers, part-time employees, and apprentices. Under certain conditions, it also applies to students. For civil servants, the maternity protection regulations of the respective state or federal government apply.

Your employer is required to provide you with a suitable room. Ideally, this is a lockable room with comfortable seating, a surface for placing items, a sink, and refrigeration. It's best to discuss this topic before your return so everything can be prepared.

A little preparation makes the transition easier. It's worth starting to hand express or pump breast milk before returning to work. This way, you can become familiar with the technique at your own pace and build up a small milk supply.

For regular pumping, an electric breast pump is more comfortable and effective than a manual pump. Battery-powered models give you more independence. With a double pumping kit, you can pump both breasts simultaneously, which saves time. Try different breast shields to find the right size.

A bag or backpack for your pump, with space for bottles and a cooler bag with ice packs, will serve you well.

Cool the expressed milk promptly in the refrigerator or in your cooler bag. The milk should remain chilled during your commute home as well. It's best to feed the milk as soon as possible or freeze it directly.

At 4°C (39°F), stored at the back of the refrigerator, breast milk keeps for four days. Frozen in portions at minus 18°C (0°F), you can store it for several months. Thaw frozen breast milk in the refrigerator or in warm water and use it within 24 hours. You can also use a bottle warmer. However, don't use a microwave, as it heats the milk unevenly and your child could get burned.

Expressed breast milk can also be fed at a daycare center. You can find information and fact sheets about this at nationalestillfoerderung.de

Your baby will quickly get used to being fed differently in your absence. Before you go to work, you can wake your child once more for nursing. While you're away, they receive breast milk from a bottle or, if they're older, complementary foods.

When you're at home, you simply continue breastfeeding as usual. By the way: babies of working mothers often want more physical contact, more closeness, and more milk in the evenings and at night. This is completely normal. So feel free to let your child sleep in your immediate vicinity.

This section is directed at employers and managers.

Retaining good employees and enabling them to return to work in a timely manner is in your own interest. Actively support breastfeeding in the workplace. Everyone benefits from it.

When a pregnancy is reported, inform the employee in writing and verbally about their right to breastfeeding breaks and the operational possibilities upon return. Conduct a workplace and risk assessment discussion.

Upon return, make joint arrangements for implementation. Review the working conditions again and initiate protective measures if necessary. Inform the team as well, if needed.

Employment protection law provides a clear hierarchy of protective measures: first, redesigning working conditions, then a workplace change, and only as a last option, an operational employment ban.

An internal workflow plan makes implementation easier. It makes sense to regularly inform employees about maternity protection and offer informational materials.

Employers can find detailed information in the BMFSFJ employer guide on maternity protection.