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He will probably ask you about how you will make up the work while you spend 90 min/day pumping. Do you have a laptop you can take with you??

I didn't make formal arrangements until I was back from maternity leave. But I have my own office so there wasn't much to arrange. Is let him know you are planning to pump and see if he can find an appropriate place for you to do so upon your return.

I work for a small company too and I just emailed my boss before the end of my maternity leave to let her know that I would like to set up a pumping schedule upon my return to work. I let her know that I can take time out of my lunch or come in early/stay late to make up the time. I don't think having the other guy leave the office will work though because that takes away from his productivity. Just talk to your boss and I'm sure he/she will work with you to figure out the best place for you to take care of business. At my office, my boss set up a "pump station" (comfy chair and table) for me in the conference room.

Hmm... come to think of it, I never DID ask permission or anything. Oops! Well, I'm glad my boss has never had an issue! I do work for a large company that is probably subject to a bunch of regulations allowing for pumping... Anyway, I have an office with no windows (the first time that's been a good thing!), so I just pumped while I worked. I never really took a lunch before and I continued to not really take a lunch, so I think I was "owed" that time anyway...

I don't really have any advice but am wishing you luck! I hope the conversation goes well and you can find a good place to pump.

You've gotten good advice above, and you know your work locations/options better than I do, so I'd just suggest practicing phrasing how you'll approach it.

Rather than asking for permission to pump, make it more of a statement followed up with a request on figuring out the best option for both you and the company. Go in with a few suggestions and highlight the solutions you've already come up with and the areas you'll need organizational input on to show that you've considered both parties.

It's easy to say "we can't accommodate that, sorry" if you're asking if it's okay to pump at work. On the other hand, if you go in and say "I am excited to return to work after mat leave and I look forward to getting back to business. I will be using a breast pump x-times / day, so during that time I will focus on emails/paperwork/etc so as not to disturb anyone with the noise over the phone. I'd be glad to do one of these sessions over my lunch hour so as to reduce the amount of client/colleague time that's disturbed. However, I'll need to work with you to plan ahead for the best location and times to pump for my other sessions, as I share an office with so-and-so and do not want to disrupt his schedule or miss any important standing meetings." your boss will have a harder time shutting you down or poking a lot of holes in your proposition, as you've narrowed it down to one or two issues.