Children in the workplace

Crissy · February 2004

Does anybody have any advise/suggestions on creating a policy forbidding employees from bringing their infants to work?

Don D · February 2004

My suggestion is to not restrict it to 'infants'. If your workplace is one that is not amenable to children, then your policy should address a prohibition of bringing children under, say, 12 into the workplace.

SteelBoy · February 2004

Yes, it should read,

No children in the workplace!

Today's workforce seems to be confused about the role of the family and the role of the employer.

If a family wants two incomes, that's fine, but spend some of that dual-income money to keep the kids locked up in daycare and away from the workplace.

Maybe the employee who needs pet care during her two week training class could take her pets to the class. Wouldn't that solve the problem?

Balloonman · February 2004

As a norm we should not see people bringing their children into the workplace. We have on occassion had an employee bring a child when the sitter got sick/ school cancelled etc. This is the exception not the rule, and typically it is a one day thing. I have no problem with that, and most of the kids are school age or close to it.
I have one employee who thinks when our office moves near her house that she is going to bring her daughter in every day either before or after then drive her over to school. Once this is brought up, or she is there two days in a row, I will address it and make it clear that it is unacceptable. This is not a daycare facility and children routinely being here is unacceptable.
That will go over well.
My $0.02 worth.
DJ The Balloonman

Don D · February 2004

If you already know of her intentions, why not address it now so she can make appropriate plans? Are you proscrastinating?

deniseE · February 2004

I have had a few days that I've had to bring my son in with me. BUT he is old enough to occupy himself AND I have a room next to my office that I can "lock" him in. It's an office, so he's not going to get hurt on machines and we're a locked facility, so he can't go anywhere without me.

These situations make no one happy, but we work with them as much as possible, so long as they are infrequent and uneventful.

I couldn't imagine bringing in an infant or a sick child.

Although, I wouldn't mind bringing my dog to work!!!

Don D · February 2004

The question might be, is that same room available for use by any other person working there who might want to bring a child to work for some reason? And then the issue becomes, how much time is the parent going to spend back and forth to that room meeting the needs of the child and not those of the company?

JM in ATL · February 2004

I would love to be able to bring my dogs to work with me, but they are to crazy to just sit still for 8 hours. The same goes for kids.

They can not occupy themselves for 8 hours in a day without interrupting their parent. Therefore, they do not belong in the workplace.

If people bring kids by for a visit, it is as nice break in the day and it affords us the ability to get to know the families of our co-workers, but it is few and far inbetween.

We don't have a policy on children/infants/kids in the workplace, just one that states that we ask that employees not have visitors, especially since we are a secured facility and nobody should be here unless they have business here. We even have them sign in and out.

What is your specific issue? Maybe we can help along those lines...

Crissy · February 2004

We also have a policy that allows only "authorized visitors" but it doesn't specifically mention children. I'm just trying to be prepared should an employee challenge the visitors policy.
Thanks for all the input. It's been very helpful.

Balloonman · February 2004

Don,
A little bird told me.. :-) ..........so it is not something I can act on............and with her it may change.......and the move is not until April, so no need to piss her off 4 months in advance.
The one nice thing is if it happens I will already know exactly how to address it and will not be caught off guard.
My $0.02 worth.
DJ The Balloonman

ritaanz · February 2004

How's this?

Dear Employee:
We do not bring our brats to your home, please do not bring yours to work.

Or

Our intention is to provide you with a work place free of harassment and torment. Your children accompaning you to work does not meet that goal i.e. no children, no angst.

LeeR · February 2004

With your attitude how would good folks like Kathy Lee and companies like NIKE ever get things done.

ritaanz · February 2004

Good question. Same answer. No brats, no Dollars in K Lee's pocket.

Don D · February 2004

From what I know of Kathy Lee and Nike, the issue is not bringing the kids of employees into the workplace. It's how those companies can hire more kids to work in their respective sweatshops offshore.

LeeR · February 2004

On a more serious level, How about telling the employee that failure on their part to arrange adequate care for their children does not create an obligation on your part. Children in the workplace are an additional distraction for all employees not to mention an additional liability (if anything should happen to the little darlings).

mdm · February 2004

We have a policy in place forbidding employee children in the workplace. Please email me [email]mmclean@bvchc.org[/email] if you would like a copy.
It has worked for us for many years. It basically states that it is inappropriate for staff children to be in the workplace and the problems it causes.

deniseE · February 2004

Don,

As a rule, I agree with you, kids do not belong at work. But as we all know, life happens and sometimes missing work is just not an option, neither is leaving a kid at home unattended.

The few times I've needed to bring him in--he was over 12, and never for a full day (maybe 4 times in 5 years) he was able to keep himself quiet and I needed no more than my allotted 15 minute break to deal with him. Since he's not out on the floor he's not bothering anyone.

Others in the office have done similar things, although right now, I'm the only one with a kid in this age group (the others have stay-at-home wives)...most are either grandparents or newlyweds.

This will not work for everyone and would not work in our company generally, but in our small department (less than 15 people) and we're not in the main building of our facility, it works sometimes.

blw · February 2004

Our handbook has the same statement that JM in ATL's has. Visitors in the workplace should be limited, etc. However, we have had children brought in occasionally for various reasons. In anticipation of the issue last year during spring break I sent out this email: "Just a reminder as spring break approaches... Family members and personal visitors at the work site should be limited to meal periods or emergencies. As much as we enjoy your children, we need to be mindful of the liability and their safety. Tks, Barbara"

Paul in Cannon Beach · February 2004

Not knowing the size of your organization or the severity of the problem, you might consider the option of a work site daycare if enough of your employees are affected by this issue and you are large enough to cover the costs involved.

As the number of stay-at-home parents diminishes (regrettably) there is a growing trend for employers to offer such benefits. These onsite daycare centers are very attractive to young professionals with kids.

An infant could be cared for in such a facility and the mother could even take breaks to breast feed.

As the parent of a 7 month old, I don't see how a person can be productive with the infant in his/her care while at work. My little girl is an angel but she still wants my attention most of the time.

Whirlwind · February 2004

My workplace is a school, so employees have sometimes tended to think it's more acceptable to bring their kids in with them than if we were a factory or a bank. And sometimes it actually has been appropriate, but not as a regular substitute for child care. So we have created a very detailed set of guidelines for when ee's can and can't bring their kids to work -- whether it's to participate in an activity or because the parent has a short, temporary child care emergency. This has helped us a lot, and I would be happy to share it if you'll provide an e-mail address.

marc · February 2004

We pride ourselves on being a family friendly workplace, that said, it is not appropriate to bring children to the workplace absent the temporary childcare emergency or the summer backyard barbeque. If the child is doing more than the lunchtime visit, we require the approval of the supervisor and even then, we have sent the EE home if the child requires to much supervision or is too noisy.

Whatever · February 2004

We are a manufacturing company. The rule is "No children allowed." Furthermore, if an employee has a personal visitor, the visitor must stay in the reception area and the visit must be short.

JM in ATL · February 2004

Just goes to show that I need more coffee on this rainy Friday morning.

I thought your post read... and the VISITOR must be short.

Ha! I crack myself up!

Children in the workplace

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