Washington Mutual will make a reasonable effort to provide a private, secure space to nursing mothers for the purpose of expressing breast milk. This guideline addresses how to locate suitable facilities and arrange for time off to express breast milk, and provides additional resources.
Requesting a Lactation Room
The Health Promotion Department is responsible for handling inquiries regarding lactation rooms or locating other spaces suitable for expressing milk. Employees and managers should contact the Health Promotion Specialist assigned to their region with such requests.
Existing Lactation Rooms
Designated lactation rooms exist at some corporate office sites. Existing lactation rooms should be used whenever reasonably possible. Employees should observe all posted guidelines such as signup sheets, hours of availability, and security guidelines. If the condition of a room requires maintenance attention, contact the Facilities Service Center at 888-745-8680.
Employees in work locations that do not have a designated lactation room should arrange with their managers to use a private office to express milk, provided the office has a locking door and a means to obscure view into the office (drapes, blinds, etc). If the office needs to be modified in any way to make it suitable, contact Corporate Property Services before proceeding.
If no lactation room or other suitable space is available, contact the regional Health Promotion Specialist for assistance.
Lactation Support
Employees have access to professional lactation consultants and additional support and education for breastfeeding through WaMu's Work/Life Assistance Program. To access these services, contact Work/Life Assistance at 866-808-5004.
Time Off
Time needed for lactation purposes should be taken during regularly scheduled break periods. If that is not possible, Washington Mutual will attempt to provide employees with additional unpaid breaks (consistent with business needs) to permit time to express milk. Any such additional breaks must be approved in advance by the employee's manager.
Equipment and Storage
WaMu provides enhanced lactation support through the Work/Life Assistance Program, including a subsidy on a hospital-grade personal breast pump for participants. Employees are responsible for providing and storing any equipment and accessories needed for breastfeeding including storage containers and a cooler, if a refrigerator is not available.
Any necessary equipment (breast pump, storage containers, etc) should be securely stored at the employee's workstation or at another storage area designated by management. These personal items should not be stored in the Washington Mutual lactation room. Loss or damage to equipment is not the responsibility of Washington Mutual.
Storage of Expressed Milk
In some cases, a refrigerator may be provided in the lactation room. If a refrigerator is not provided, expressed milk should be stored in a personal cooler secured at the designated storage area. In either case, expressed milk should be stored in a spill-proof container labeled with the employee's name. Expressed milk must be removed from Washington Mutual premises at the end of the employee's work day.
Questions
If you have questions about this or any other HR Policy or Guideline, please contact the Employee Service Center online or at 866-4-WAMU-HR.
Feedback
If you have suggestions or feedback about our HR Policies and Guidelines, please submit your comments via HR Policy feedback.
]]>Great policy! Good for them for being pro-active and pro-family.
]]>There's probably other medical/etc reasons why someone might need a little privacy to take care of a condition, and it would make sense for the "express room" to do multiple duty. If you have an office with a door, that's probably good enough. If you're in a cubicle farm, well... Agreed giving yourself a shot in a bathroom is likely no more appealing than for a mother "expressing" herself.
What gets me is some of the looks women gaev my wife when she fed our kids in public (mind you, fully covered with blanket and such). Watching your wife feed your child was really a beautiful thing.
]]>So because I have a view that is the opposite of the majority of posters in this story that makes me a troll. I see how it is. If you believe in personal and family responsibility that makes you evil.
]]>SO yeah what is the point of this unless its to let people know WAMU cares about its preggy employees?
]]>@majortom1981: I think the word you're looking for there is "discreet".
]]>(half-hearted apologies to Madonna)
]]>@TheBigLewinski:
I recall a situation where a woman returned to work from maturnity leave. She was expessing milk and storing it in the fridge when one of the other woman mistook it for coffee cream. Boy was she surprised... Actually, it is quite sweet and refreshing.
What kind of coffee was it? "Expresso"?
]]>@scoosdad:
Actually I started on the pump and CGM in November. You're right. It's FAR easier and more stable. Why did I wait so long? [www.futuregringo.com]
]]>@sacrabos:
Upper leg, thigh, upper butt. But I use an insulin pump now so not as many injections anymore...
]]>@phloighd: Yeah, it's called the oval office...ten years after the Lewinsky scandal...[jezebel.com]
]]>Go ahead and bash me but I feel it should either be done at your desk or someplace indiscrete. Where I work a woman did it and got breast milk all over the area she was at . when she got up she laughed at the mess she made and left. Did not even clean it up.
PS This was in the middle of a library.
]]>Though I'm joking, a woman on 'Bullshit' was qutie serious in this sentiment.
]]>I think that breastfeeding is just as detrimental as child sexual molestation.
]]>Does my upper tush count? And I agree with you. But please tell me your not one of those moms who participates in "Milk-Ins"
That does as much for equality and acceptance as hideous drag queen nuns at gay pride parades.
live and let live...
]]>Singling out WaMu among everybody who calls it expressing isn't really necessary.
]]>Most women who express their milk are planning to feed their babies with it.
]]>Why is this in the Consumerist, though?
]]>After my first baby was born, I was still breastfeeding when I went back to work. A couple times a day, I would close and lock my office door, break out the pump and take care of business. One day I guess I forgot to lock the door. Someone knocked and I called out, "Just a minute ..." She apparently thought I said, "Come in," and walked into the office.
There I stand with my top completely open and a pump on each breast. (If you've never seen a pump, it looks like some kind of S&M device!) Her eyes got really wide and she left as quickly as possible.
That goes down as my most embarassing moment ever. I really could have used a WaMu lactation room.
]]>Well, like someone at passive-aggressive-notes.com once said, HR spells out policies not because they want to be intrusive but because they're tired of cleaning up after other people's complaints.
>It's just common sense and respectful to give women some space for that.
I wish. It's common sense and respectful to do lots of things yet the county I live in actually has to conduct training in how not to be an asshole (case study: leaving notes that say "Retard" on the desk of the new guy who got a head injury in the war.)
]]>NIPPLE EQUALITY NOW!
]]>What if i want my baby to drink cow milk. Can I bring a cow into the special room and express it?
]]>I would say this was posted because lots of us here are women, and this is a subject that may affect us at one time or another in our lives.
This seems like a decent policy. I work in radio, (mostly with guys), and when I came in to have lunch with everybody after my son was born, I nursed him (discreetly) under a blanket while we were all around the table. I was not about to relegate myself to some bathroom somewhere! No one could see anything, but boy, were those guys uncomfortable! I knew them all well, and thought it was pretty amusing, to tell the truth.
I'm sorry, but that's what my tatas were made to do, it's completely normal, and if they want to see boobies all over billboards and tv ads, they can deal with them being used for what they were meant for! Rant over.
]]>Unfortunately, breastfeeding is not covered by the ADA in the US, so companies are pretty much on their own to implement such a policy if they see fit. I say kudos to WaMu for taking the initiative here.
]]>Also I'm diabetic and check my blood sugar/give myself shots at my desk several times a day.
Again nobody cares - but I wonder if WaMu would give me a special "Diabetes Room"
]]>Probably being posted at how almost absurdly detailed it is. (from a corporation)
It's just common sense and respectful to give women some space for that. If I can a company my policy would be "do your thing - make sure it's labeled in the fridge"
It shouldn't be that hard to simply give some space.
It's micromanagement, I guess in a good way, to it's finest.
p.s. I've ridden subways in other countries where women breast feed right in front of everyone. No one cares.
]]>in my office (also a bank) we call the lactation room "the dairy"
]]>I've done the nursing/working mother thing twice, at two different companies. This is pretty typical of a 9-5 office, big company policy. I don't see anything unusual here, either pos or neg.
I did think it was cute that you tagged it "leaks", though.
If the article was about leaking breastmilk at the office instead of just pumping it, you'd have an interesting item on workplace faux pas.
]]>Seriously, why is this here Ben?
]]>This is pretty reasonable policy. Why is it being posted here?
]]>I believe the informational pamphlet was titled "Express Yourself! WaMu's Guide to Breastfeeding at the Bank"
]]>I worked with GM Worldwide Facilities Group for several years, and we had similar policies in all buildings we oversaw. Usually it was a conference room that had black-out shades and other amenities to make it more comfortable.
]]>wow they really care about boobies. or babies. one or the other.
]]>I recall a situation where a woman returned to work from maturnity leave. She was expessing milk and storing it in the fridge when one of the other woman mistook it for coffee cream. Boy was she surprised... Actually, it is quite sweet and refreshing.
]]>That's surprisingly good, as such policies go.
]]>