Babies in the Workplace

is to take responsibility for keeping their child happy. Some companies did give little presents to the babies and nearly all made sure that specific diaper changing areas were available but, for the most part, the parents were expected to bring what they felt was necessary for their child.

In most cases, parents were still expected to handle their regular workload while their baby was there. One explicit exception to this was at Borshoff Matthews Johnson, which paid parents at 80% of their regular salary during the baby time. Susan Matthews, an owner of Borshoff, explained that, "We do the 80% of full time to free the parent to feed, change, and comfort her child without feeling the pressure to rush to get 'back to work.'" Debbie Butler of Valley Credit Union explained that it is the "responsibility of the parent to adequately balance parenting and work duties" and

around. Having their baby with them most of the time will still be an important benefit to parents, and since the company is accommodating their need to be with their baby, the parents will be likely to do what they need to to ensure that the company's work is getting done.

Some companies also found it useful to make it explicit that a parent's first responsibility is their baby when they're at work. By explicitly giving parents the freedom to ensure that their baby's needs are met, parents are happier and thus more productive overall. Also, when parents are able to immediately respond to their baby's needs, the babies don't cry for long periods of time--which is one of the keys to a successful baby program.

The parents in these businesses brought all the supplies for their babies. This lowers liability risks for businesses and further supports the idea that the parent