Babies in the Workplace

remain in the primary care of the parent.
However, other employees often enjoy helping the parents out with the babies and playing with them, which UNCLE is fine with "as long as it isn't excessive and doesn't interfere with people getting their own work done." Wendy explained that there is a provision in the policy that states that other employees are prohibited from "baby-sitting" at work in case it becomes an issue, so that UNCLE has an official stance to enforce if someone does take advantage of the situation. She said she "doesn't think [people helping with the babies] has been a problem."

Until Baby is Mobile

Nearly all the businesses with a current baby-to-work program allow babies to come to work at least until they're six months old or when they start to crawl. The reason for this is that when babies start to crawl, they're at a higher safety

up for these short but rewarding "baby breaks."

Debbie Butler of Valley Credit Union said that Valley discourages "babysitting" by other staff members. She said she knows that "occasionally mom or dad may be on the phone, and the baby is fussing, and someone else might pick up the baby." She didn't see a problem with this sort of thing, but she said that they don't want a situation where a parent says, "Can you watch my kid for 3 hours while I do this project?" She said that Valley also makes it clear that they are not providing "day care" to parents and that the infant needs to stay in and around the parent's work area. She said that parents need to be sensitive to the needs of others and "maintain as close as possible to a normal work routine."

Wendy Zanotelli explained that UNCLE has a written provision that the baby is to