Manatee tax collector learns to respect the art of lactation

Eighty-two percent of Manatee County Tax Collector Ken Burton Jr.’s employees are female.

“Women employees are awesome,” Burton said a few days ago with a big smile.

But about 18 months ago Burton had a big problem with his 82 percent.

The women who worked for him were not at all happy with the federally-required lactation room he had provided for his new moms at his DeSoto location, 819 301 Blvd. W., Bradenton.

With so many women on his payroll, Burton said he always has women who are pregnant, who are on maternity leave or are back to work and lactating so he has learned to be responsive to their needs.

“I want to keep my employees,” Burton said. “I want them to come back to work for me after they have their babies. For example, we now we have five pregnant women.”

The tax collector’s lactation room was a former storage space on the first floor, in a corner of the workout room.

It was there that moms had 20 minutes of free time above and beyond their regular break to use a breast pump.

Doctors recommend women should either breast-feed or use a breast pump every three hours to keep their milk flowing, said Jan Hilker, Burton’s second in command.

But it took a survey to open Burton’s eyes that his women employees considered his lactation room “a mess, cold, uncomfortable, sterile in feeling, with no assurance of privacy.”

“Every year we do a survey and what bubbled up was that my women employees felt stress over the room we were using for lactation,” Burton said last week.

“It was legal but not friendly,” Amanda “Mandy” Ferguson, a support analyst for Burton, said of the room.

Burton reached out to his employees

What Burton did next may be a guidepost for other Manatee County employers.

In fact, Burton has been honored by The Florida Department of Health in Manatee for his actions.

Burton held a Lactation Room Roundtable last year.

Representing the women were then new moms, Ferguson as well as Lacey Helmer, Vicki Hiestand and Suzanne Kistler. The facilitators were longtime Burton employees Marie Munford and Hilker.

When the meeting was over, the six women had come up plans for a revitalized lactation room that would delight the Property Brothers on HGTV.

It took more than a year but the new lactation room is now in service.

The 82 percent are thrilled by it, Ferguson said.

“It’s private, comfortable and very homey,” said Ferguson who was the first mom to use the upgraded room. “They’ve purchased these nice chairs for us to sit in. There is a little table right next to you. There are cork boards to put pictures of your baby. There is a refrigerator inside the room so you don’t have to put a big label that says breast milk right next to your co-worker’s lunch container in the refrigerator that everyone shares, which is great.”

The Florida Department of Health in Manatee presented the Manatee Tax Collector’s office with a “baby friendly” sign in honor of their new lactation station and the achievements they have made in employee wellness, said Adam DuBois, a Department of Health spokesman.

“We are excited to recognize the Tax Collector’s office for their efforts in supporting women to meet their breastfeeding goals. We look forward to recognizing more businesses who provide similar opportunities to customers and employees in our community,” said Kisha Gaines, director of community health for the Department of Health.

The response to the new lactation room at the tax collector’s office reveals that lactation has a sensitivity to it that many people, including employers, may not realize, Burton said.

“I didn’t understand everything that was connected with this until I began to listen to my employees,” Burton said.

It can be very stressful for women to use a breast pump away from home if the lactation room is not private and comfortable, Burton said.

A real hospital privacy curtain

Some of Burton’s employees told him nightmare stories of the old days before there even was a room.

Said Kistler, “In 2009, I was breast feeding before the new law came into play so I would go into the bathroom stalls and there was no plug or outlet so I had to go through a whole bunch of batteries with my breast pump. It was so cramped and loud and other people would walk in and I would think, ‘Oh my gosh, I hope they are not hearing this.’ It was stressful. I would yell out, ‘I’m just pumping. It’s OK.’”

Sometimes Kistler would slip down to the downstairs ladies’ changing room.

“A few ladies would need to get in and they would knock and say, ‘Can I just get my shirt out?’ and I would say, ‘I’m sorry. I’m sorry. Yes. I’ll just hand it out to you.’ ” Kistler said. “So I was all for this lactation room and the new law. I think it’s great.”

Among many features Burton approved for the redesigned lactation room was a real hospital privacy curtain.

“I like that if there are two people in there at the same time there is a separator so you don’t have to feel like, ‘Alright, you sit that way and I will sit this way so this doesn’t get too awkward,’ Ferguson said with a laugh. “I think we are concerned about offending someone else if they are not open, so privacy is great.”

Burton’s newly named “Lactation Suite” also has two comfortable chairs with cleanable upholstery, durable hooks on the walls that can hold a pump or personal paraphernalia, a refrigerator to store milk away from the regular employee’s fridge, small tables and a reversible Lactation Suite “In Use” sign.

Based on recommendations, Burton also approved other “touches.”

“I actually like the flooring we put in because — and I didn’t think about this but, someone else did — we were discussing carpet but we said, ‘Well, you know, we might have some spills.’ ” Munford said. “So, what we got looks like a wood floor but it’s vinyl. So, if there is a spill they can wipe it up. I like the color of the walls. It is homey. That’s the best way to describe it.”

“I like the colors of it,” Kistler added. “It’s soothing. It’s like a lavender purple and it just matches the floor really well and it’s just so comfortable and so private and you can’t hear anything on the outside and the inside is just very relaxing.”

Said Hilker, who helped put all the pieces together, “I am proud of our organization for looking out for our moms. Operations just did a great job in making this happen. Our senior team made sure it happened and Ken (Burton) led the charge. He’s the one who really pushed the whole project.”

This story was originally published May 23, 2016 at 11:04 AM with the headline "Manatee tax collector learns to respect the art of lactation."