Pregnancy and maternity: Assess the risks to an employee who is a new mother or breastfeeding
When to use this pregnancy and maternity flowchart
Use this pregnancy and maternity flowchart when you have an employee who is a new mother or breastfeeding.
Employers have specific risk assessment duties in relation to employees who are new mothers or breastfeeding. To ensure that such an employee is not exposed to a risk to their health or that of their baby, the employer may have to alter their duties, offer suitable alternative employment or suspend them.
Key steps
- Conduct a new mother risk assessment
- If the risk assessment has revealed a risk that cannot in itself be avoided or prevented, consider altering the employee's working conditions or hours of work
- If the risk cannot be avoided by altering the employee's working conditions or hours of work, offer the employee suitable alternative work, if available
- If there is no suitable alternative work available, suspend the employee and keep the suspension under review
