Babies in the Workplace

suggestions for ways to make a baby program as effective as possible.

Willie Jones, of Magical Journey Bookstore, found that discussing the baby program with all of his employees was beneficial. He said that he spoke to the other staff before he agreed to let an employee bring in her baby. He said he asked for the staff members' opinions and made sure they understood that they might need to cover for the employee at times while she had the baby there. He believes that they appreciated that he asked for their thoughts on the decision and that the discussion helped prevent people from having issues when a baby actually started coming to work, because they had "bought in" to making it work for the company as well as for the parents. This option is likely to work fairly well in smaller companies with more informal work environments. It can also provide an opportunity to fine-tune the specific

six-month-old is far more independent than a baby even a month younger, and as a result, the prospect of a baby of that age being away from her parents while they're working seems a far more reasonable proposition than prior to that time.

Of course, it would be great if all parents had the option of working with their children until a year of age or longer, but the mobility limitation is a feasible compromise between the needs of parents and babies and the needs of businesses.

Discuss Baby Program
Prior to Implementation

A company considering starting a baby program may find it useful to solicit feedback from employees prior to implementation and when babies are first coming in. Parents and coworkers are likely to be able to offer valuable