Babies in the Workplace

the benefits she saw. She added that "if there was a little down time for employees [as a result of having babies around], the intangible value in the spirit of the company" more than made up for it.

Legal Issues

One of the biggest concerns of many companies considering a baby program can be how to handle legal issues and liability risks. They may be concerned about the liability inherent in having a baby in a work environment, and whether they are at risk of being sued if something happens to the baby. The companies that have baby programs all dealt with this issue by making it clear that the parent is to be the primary caretaker for the child, and making sure the parent understands that the company is not accepting responsibility for taking care of the child. Several companies, with the help of an

Costs of Implementation

The cost of implementing a baby policy tends to be very low if it is structured similarly to these profiled companies. Asking an attorney to prepare a waiver form from scratch is likely to cost less than $1,000. An expenditure incurred by some companies was for installing diaper changing tables in restrooms; a table currently seems to cost around $200. If a company wishes to establish a "baby room" or "family room," setting up furniture and a lock on the door may require a small expenditure. Once the initial setup is complete, there shouldn't be any ongoing costs for a company since parents in all of these programs brought their own baby supplies.

Susan Matthews at Borshoff commented that the $1,000 in attorneys' fees that she spent was "virtually nothing" compared to