Can I express milk at work? Your UK rights explained

If you are back on shift and have nowhere private to express, write to your manager today. Your employer must provide suitable rest facilities for nursing mothers. You should not have to pump in a toilet or wait until you get home. There is no dedicated paid pumping break, but that does not cancel the safety or discrimination duties.

What the law actually says

This guide explains the law on 1 October 2026 in England, Wales and Scotland. Northern Ireland’s separate rules are covered below.

Regulation 25(4) of the Workplace (Health, Safety and Welfare) Regulations 1992 requires suitable rest facilities for pregnant women and nursing mothers at work. Section 13(6)(a) of the Equality Act 2010 includes less favourable treatment because a woman is breastfeeding within direct sex discrimination. Neither creates paid expressing time.

Somewhere suitable to express

The legal duty concerns facilities to rest. HSE guidance recommends a private, hygienic area, somewhere to lie down if necessary, and milk storage, such as a fridge. Toilets are not suitable. These details are guidance on meeting the duty, not a list in regulation 25.

A meeting room can work if you have reliable access and privacy. A glass door without a blind does not give you privacy. On a care shift, in a kitchen, on a shop floor, during a delivery round, while cleaning or in a warehouse, a room that is locked for meetings or too far from your station is not a usable arrangement. Discuss a comfortable chair, clean surface, pump socket and nearby washing facilities. This is not a universal statutory equipment checklist.

The risk assessment your employer must do

Under regulations 16 to 18 of the Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999, your employer must assess risks to you and your child. Notify them in writing that you are breastfeeding. Ask for the individual assessment and proposed measures.

The rules cover employees who gave birth within the previous six months or are breastfeeding. There is no six-month cut-off while you breastfeed.

1. Identify the risks. Consider your tasks, hours, night work, fatigue, posture and any hazardous substances, as well as access to rest facilities.
2. Adjust conditions or hours. Your employer must remove the identified risk where possible.
3. Consider suitable alternative work. If adjustments cannot make the work safe, the next option is suitable work on terms that are not substantially less favourable.
4. Suspend on full pay if necessary. For an employee, maternity suspension is the last resort when neither adjustment nor suitable alternative work resolves the risk. It is not annual leave or unpaid leave.

HSE identifies lead, organic mercury and radioactive material as particular breastfeeding risks. Paid suspension addresses an unresolved safety risk, not simply a refused break request.

Expressing breaks and pay

For most adult workers, regulation 12 of the Working Time Regulations 1998 gives one uninterrupted 20-minute rest break when daily working time exceeds six hours. It need not be paid unless your contract or policy says otherwise. It is not one break “per six hours”.

Need longer? Ask for extra breaks, a longer lunch or changed hours. Agree whether time is paid, unpaid or made up. The loophole is clear: employers can leave you to absorb the lost time. That is our verdict on the system, not a separate legal entitlement. If you are made to work through a supposedly unpaid break, that is wage theft; complain to HMRC if it takes your pay below the minimum wage. No dedicated pumping-break entitlement does not mean your employer can ignore safety risks or discriminate.

Using a flexible working request

Employees can make a statutory flexible working request from day one, with up to two requests in any 12-month period. Your employer must consult before rejecting it and decide within two months, unless you agree an extension.

Specify a pattern and start date, such as different shifts or home-working days. If you need a temporary change, agree an end date or trial period. A successful request does not automatically expire when you stop breastfeeding.

Refusal must use one or more of eight statutory business grounds, such as additional costs or inability to reorganise work. A listed ground does not excuse discrimination. A new requirement for reasonable refusals and explanations is scheduled for 2027, not in force now.

If you are refused, penalised or dismissed

Less favourable treatment because you are breastfeeding can be direct sex discrimination, with no minimum service requirement. Section 18 separately protects against pregnancy and maternity discrimination, generally during pregnancy and maternity leave.

A refusal may raise direct or indirect sex discrimination, sex-related harassment or safety claims, depending on the circumstances. Dismissal for a protected health and safety reason can be automatically unfair without qualifying service. Get advice on the appropriate claim.

What the Mellor case actually decided

In Mellor v MFG Academies Trust, case 1802133/2021, a teacher repeatedly asked for somewhere to express. She ended up expressing in toilets or her car while eating lunch. In its 2022 judgment, the tribunal upheld harassment related to sex. It dismissed her direct and indirect sex discrimination claims.

This first-instance decision is not binding. It also predates the removal of section 13(7), the workplace breastfeeding exception, on 1 January 2024. Its direct-discrimination outcome should not be mistaken for today’s statutory position.

Redundancy protection is separate

Since 6 April 2024, eligible employees have extended priority for suitable alternative vacancies. For pregnancy and maternity, the period starts when you tell your employer you are pregnant and normally ends 18 months after the baby’s birth. Tell your employer the actual birth date, otherwise the expected week of childbirth is used. It is not a rolling six months after your return, and it does not prevent every redundancy. See Acas’s explanation of redundancy priority.

How to ask and challenge a refusal

1. Explain your needs. Confirm you are breastfeeding. Request facilities, an individual risk assessment and a discussion about expressing time. A short email is enough to start: say what room and access you need, and ask when the assessment will happen.
2. Record the agreement. Include room access, privacy, storage, break cover and pay. Check arrangements at each site or on each shift. Keep copies of messages and rotas, including any cancelled breaks or changed shifts.
3. Challenge a refusal. Ask for reasons and use your grievance procedure. A flexible working request is not a prerequisite for rest facilities. If you are in a union, contact your rep: UNISON is common in health and care, USDAW in retail, and Unite or GMB in hospitality, care and logistics.
4. Get advice promptly. Contact Acas or Citizens Advice; a local law centre or your union may help with a claim. For most Great Britain claims, notify Acas for early conciliation before filing. Report a safety failure to the HSE; report discrimination to the Equality and Human Rights Commission. If unpaid work brings your pay below the minimum wage, complain to HMRC. In a GLAA-regulated sector, report labour exploitation to the GLAA. See our tribunal guide.

Maternity leave, pay and your return

Statutory maternity leave gives employees up to 52 weeks regardless of service. After up to 26 weeks, you can return to the same job. After longer leave, the same job remains the starting point. A suitable alternative on no less favourable terms is allowed only if returning is not reasonably practicable.

No notice is needed to return at the expected end of maternity leave. Changing your return date requires at least eight weeks’ notice. Notice alone cannot extend the 52-week entitlement.

From 5 April 2026, Statutory Maternity Pay is payable for up to 39 weeks. The first six weeks are at 90% of average weekly earnings, with no cap. The remaining 33 weeks are at £194.32 a week or 90% of earnings, whichever is lower. Eligibility includes 26 weeks’ continuous service into the 15th week before the expected week of childbirth and average weekly earnings of at least £129. Pay has separate qualifying rules from leave.

Maternity Allowance may help if you do not qualify for SMP. Eligible employed or recently employed claimants can receive up to £194.32 a week, or 90% of earnings if lower, for up to 39 weeks. Self-employed amounts depend on National Insurance contributions, not simply earnings.

If you are not a permanent employee

Agency access to shared facilities starts on day one, including an existing mother and baby room. The 12-week qualifying period concerns equal treatment in basic working conditions. Tell both agency and hirer that you are breastfeeding and clarify who will arrange facilities and assess risks. See agency worker rights.

Genuine self-employment gives no employee maternity leave or statutory flexible working right. Safety and equality coverage depends on the arrangement, including whether you personally provide the work. Maternity Allowance may be available.

For zero-hours contracts, status determines your rights. The guaranteed-hours regime is not in force on 1 October 2026.

Scotland and Northern Ireland

The workplace rules above apply in Scotland. Separately, the Breastfeeding etc. (Scotland) Act 2005 protects feeding milk to a child under two in public places or licensed premises, subject to its conditions. It does not create pumping breaks at work.

Northern Ireland has parallel safety and rest-facility duties but separate equality law. The Equality Act 2010 does not apply. Nidirect advises written notification and discussing arrangements before returning.

Do not apply Great Britain’s day-one flexible working rules or tribunal deadline extension to Northern Ireland. Contact the Labour Relations Agency, not Acas. The flexible working and unfair dismissal reforms below do not extend there.

What is in force and what is scheduled

Acas’s reform timetable distinguishes current law from scheduled changes. None creates dedicated paid pumping breaks.

1. 1 Oct 2026In force: longer tribunal limits

   Most Great Britain claims now have a six-month limit. Earlier disputes may retain three months.

2. 1 Jan 2027Scheduled: ordinary unfair dismissal changes

   The qualifying period is due to fall from two years to six months and the compensatory award cap to be removed.

3. During 2027Planned: further family protections

   Reasonable, explained flexible working refusals and stronger pregnancy and maternity dismissal protection. Exact dates and implementation details remain unsettled. See our reform guide.

Questions people ask

Is there paid breastfeeding leave?

No dedicated statutory entitlement. Your employer may offer paid expressing breaks under its policy.

Can your employer offer a toilet?

HSE says toilets are not suitable. Ask for a private, hygienic alternative with reliable access.

Are expressing breaks paid?

There is no specific statutory paid-break right. Check your contract and agree how additional time will be treated.

Does protection stop at six months?

No. Safety protection continues while you breastfeed. That does not create unlimited paid breaks.

Must you give eight weeks’ breastfeeding notice?

No. Eight weeks concerns changing your maternity-leave return date. Notify your employer in writing as early as you can.

What if you work nights or with chemicals?

Request a specific risk assessment. Employees may need changed hours, alternative work or paid suspension. A night-work restriction can depend on medical evidence.

Sources

1. Workplace (Health, Safety and Welfare) Regulations 1992, regulation 25, legislation.gov.uk
2. Rest and breastfeeding at work, Health and Safety Executive
3. Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999, legislation.gov.uk
4. Equality Act 2010, section 13, including the amendment effective 1 January 2024, legislation.gov.uk
5. Equality Act 2010, section 18, legislation.gov.uk
6. Mellor v MFG Academies Trust, 1802133/2021, reserved judgment, Employment Tribunal
7. Working Time Regulations 1998, regulation 12, legislation.gov.uk
8. Statutory flexible working requests, Acas
9. Redundancy protection for pregnancy and new parents, Acas
10. Returning to work after maternity leave, Acas
11. Rates and thresholds for employers 2026 to 2027, GOV.UK
12. Maternity pay and leave, GOV.UK
13. Maternity Allowance amounts and self-employed contribution rules, GOV.UK
14. Agency workers’ rights to equal treatment and shared facilities, GOV.UK
15. Employment Rights Act 2025 overview and commencement timetable, Acas, updated 1 October 2026
16. Breastfeeding and going back to work, nidirect
17. Third of breastfeeding mothers forced to use toilet to express milk at work, The Guardian, reporting Slater and Gordon poll, 21 February 2019
18. Pregnant women feel unsafe at work despite legal protection, UNISON and Maternity Action, February 2026
19. Raise a health and safety concern, Health and Safety Executive
20. How to report discrimination, Equality and Human Rights Commission
21. Work advice, Citizens Advice
22. Find a law centre, Law Centres Network
23. Report exploitation in a GLAA-regulated sector, Gangmasters and Labour Abuse Authority
24. Complain about the National Minimum Wage, HMRC