Do you take a shorter lunch break and/or come early or stay later if you take multiple pump breaks?
ETA - do you legally have to make up the time with your company/state? I was reviewing our laws recently and my supervisor asked me to take a shorter lunch, while the law says employers are required to provide reasonable breaks to pumping mothers. Interested to hear how what you do lines up with your legal rights.
wonderful pomelo / 30692 posts
Unfortunately, if I came in earlier to try to make up for pumping, I'd have to pump an additional time, so it wouldn't work! For me, I'm allowed to use my two 15 minute breaks for pumping and any additional time, I use excused or vacation time. 
wonderful clementine / 24134 posts
Yes we are supposed to make up the time. We are at work for 9 hours, so that gives us a 1 hour break. Technically I use that break over 3 sessions.
honeydew / 7504 posts
Technically we're probably supposed to make up the time, but my boss and supervisor are pretty lax, so I haven't had to yet, and I'm going on 9 months pumping at work. I have been eating lunch at my desk and sort of working through lunch, but only because I feel like I should/need to in order to get everything done. That hasn't been "asked" of me, though.
cantaloupe / 6206 posts
I'm also supposed to make up the time, but I can *kind of* get away with not doing it because I pump at my desk and can keep working. I try to come in early, and work through most of my hour lunch to compensate for 3 pump sessions during the day.
GOLD / eggplant / 11517 posts
I pumped at my desk, so i just kept working. It was hard to stay focused, though! Sometimes i needed to look at pics of LO to get enough milk
grapefruit / 4187 posts
I unfortunately did not BF, but I'm salaried so I don't have to make up the time.
pomelo / 5258 posts
I can't come in earlier or stay later because of day care hours. I try to eat lunch as quickly as possible (10 min or so). I still feel bad because nobody else in my department takes or eats lunch. I don't really think anybody is jealous of my breaks. I still have to get my work done.
GOLD / wonderful coconut / 33402 posts
Nothing was ever said to me but I felt guilty. I pumped 3 times, around 20 mins, so I just didn't take a lunch break to make up the time.
cantaloupe / 6206 posts
@Modern Daisy: I'm salaried too, but between setup, bagging, etc etc etc I realize I spend almost 90 mins/day pumping.... too much to not make it up somewhere.
kiwi / 673 posts
I pumped in a room with a computer so I was able to work while pumping. I wore a strapless double pumping bra which was great. I could even do conf calls 
nectarine / 2530 posts
Not sure what the requirements are legally, but my bosses are awesome. I'm able to pump at my desk (closed door, of course!) so I just continue to work and take my lunch as normal. I 'only' pump twice, but it's usually 40 minutes each when all's said and done.
watermelon / 14467 posts
I don't make up my time since I'm salaried. I'm away from my desk maybe 40 minutes out of the day (I pump twice) and my work gets done. I also have to work some evenings every month, so that time makes up for any time I'm away.
It's also state law that they provide me two 15 minute breaks to pump. But they are kind of lax here; as long as my work gets done it's fine.
wonderful olive / 19353 posts
I'm salaried, and my boss is pretty lax about me pumping (thankfully). I pump 3x at work, and am away from my desk for 30 min at a time, but one of my pump session is during my lunch hour. I get my work done so the pumping hasn't presented a problem.
honeydew / 7811 posts
@maybebaby: I pump twice day and the actual pumping takes me roughly 22 minutes (so add a little time for getting to the pump room, a few minutes for set up/break down, etc.) I take my full lunch hour because I go to nurse LO at lunchtime.
I do not have to come in early or stay late. However, getting to this point was a giant stressful mess. I talked to HR multiple times and then went all the way to the President of the university to get this issue resolved, and my boss was fired (not 100% due to the pumping issue, by maybe!). (check out my old threads for the whole story if you missed it)
ETA: I am salaried too
GOLD / wonderful pomegranate / 28905 posts
@maybebaby: ours states it as UNPAID time to pump.
I work through lunch to make up for the time.
eggplant / 11716 posts
I pump just once at work now, during my lunch. The thing is, I move my lunch around willy nilly to accomodate students in the library, so I also move my pump time around....so on the rare day that I have to actually leave the school for something (if I forget my lunch and need to get food), I don't feel too bad if I take a lunch AND pump sometime else. That would only happen occasionally anyway. And I don't get "breaks" the way an office job might, so I figure it's okay.
When I called my boss to discuss pumping before I returned to work, he got embarassed and told me to "just do what I need to do" and never mentioned making time up.
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