Babies in the Workplace

explained that she thinks it's important to "have flexibility in people's work hours." She said that companies need to figure out what an employee "can do if they can't do their regular job--what else can they do." She said that Valley is big on cross-training, so that

   if someone was in a public branch with
   their baby and it wasn't working, if they
   were cross-trained for the call center, they
   could maybe work there for a period of
   time.

   When asked what businesses were appropriate for baby programs, Wendy Zanotelli replied,

   It's funny--if I had had an interview prior to
   implementing [the program at UNCLE
   Credit Union], I would have said not in a
   bank or credit union. But I now think every
   bank and credit union should have this
   program. I think it would work in any

Office Jobs

Although baby programs have been successful in a wide range of industries, nearly all the companies with active baby programs are office-based. This is not to say that a baby in a retail environment or a parent bringing their baby to a more active job (such as a park ranger) couldn't work. However, in terms of feasibility and "tested" baby programs, office environments are most likely to be successful. In some companies, there may be positions which lend themselves to having babies and others in which babies clearly aren't appropriate--for example, a worker pouring steel in a foundry obviously
couldn't have a baby present, but an office worker in the same company might. Some companies temporarily moved prospective parents to a different position to allow them to bring their baby to work. Debbie Butler of Valley Credit Union