Employers urged to facilitate breast-feeding at work

The Department of Health has published guidelines to help employers facilitate female staff who want to breast-feed their babies at work.

The guidelines were published today to coincide with Work-Life Balance Day, which is designed to promote policies that allow greater work flexibility.

Under new legislation, employers are required to provide breast-feeding facilities if this does not lead to significant costs.

The legislation also entitles mothers to paid time off to breast-feed their babies in the workplace or at home if their employer does not provide the necessary facilities.