Mother wants transfer closer to home to breastfeed premature baby
In a case before the Workplace Relations Commission (WRC), the paramedic within the ambulance service was seeking an order granting her a transfer to be near her home to allow her to breastfeed her boy.
Travel to her workplace is a round trip of 290km, which takes her about four hours and 20 minutes to complete each day.
The unnamed woman told the WRC her treatment by her unidentified employer “is shameful and unfair to her, and it paints a picture of a male-dominated workplace that shows little or no regard for the welfare of their post pregnancy employees or their newborn children”.
She told the hearing she was upset and shocked by her employer’s handling of her situation and that her employer denied her natural justice and fair process by taking almost seven months to deal with her request/grievance.
On December 30, 2014, the woman gave birth to her son, who was born premature and only weighed 4lb and 3ozs. On advice from her doctors she decided to breastfeed her child, which worked well and her child responded positively, started to develop and do well.
The woman intends to breastfeed her child until he is two and made her request to transfer three months before she was due back to work at the end of June last.
However, she has not returned to work since going on maternity leave in December 2014 after going on sick leave last November due to stress from the dispute.
The woman had initially worked as clerical officer close to her home until 2008. She has been on a panel for permanent transfer to her home area since 2009.
The adjudication officer at the WRC, Seán Reilly, ordered her employer to pay her €2,500 for the undue delay in dealing with the matter.
He said the delay was unreasonable and unfair to the woman and caused her stress. However, Mr Reilly said he could not make a recommendation granting the paramedic a transfer to her own area as no vacancy currently exists.
Mr Reilly said he recommended that the woman must accept her place on the transfer panel on the same basis as any other employee.
He said he noted and accepted the point made by the employer that when she took up her post as a paramedic, the woman was fully aware where her base was and that she would have to take her place on a panel for transfer from that area.
