For many attorneys, part of finding that balance between work and life includes taking time off to have children and take care of newborn infants.  Traditionally, balancing work and a new baby means maternity leave (and, sometimes recently, paternity leave, after the enactment of the Family and Medical Leave Act of 1993).  Recent articles and blogs, however, suggest that a new solution to this work-versus-baby issue is on the rise:  just bring your baby to work.  And these stories are not talking about on-site daycare, but full-time parenting in the office. 

Critics and proponents are divided on whether such programs are a good idea overall, but programs that allow parents to bring newborns to work offer several benefits by:

·  Shortening leaves of absence and lowering employee turnover, especially among women.

·  Attracting new high-quality job candidates who might find it difficult to make choices between their careers and family planning goals.

·  Lowering stress and healthcare costs for working parents by giving mothers the opportunity to continue breastfeeding during the first six months of their babies’ lives and by reducing the stress of separation anxiety that many parents and children face when parents return to work too soon.

·  Providing flexibility by allowing parents to stay in the office longer without the need to rush out to relieve costly nannies or daycare providers. 

In addition to those benefits, there are other benefits that might be debatable:

·  Cheerful, chubby babies at work can help improve morale and relieve stress for both parents and coworkers.  Some proponents of baby-at-work programs suggest that babies encourage a calm atmosphere and make coworkers smile, but some employees may actually feel uncomfortable around infants.

·  Babies may encourage teamwork and trust, as employees take turns interacting with their coworker’s child. However, babies could cause problems if parents are constantly handing their children off to other employees.  Coworkers may feel like babysitting is not in their job description and could resent parent coworkers for throwing extra responsibility on their colleagues. 

·  Companies that publicize their baby programs may increase the goodwill of the company.  By promoting baby-at-work programs to the general public, firms can showcase their dedication to employees and family values.  However, some may view such programs as unprofessional and or as a hindrance to a business or law firm’s ability to dedicate attention to its clients. 

The Parenting in the Workplace Institute has identified over 120 companies that have programs that allow parents to bring infants to work until they are, on average, six to eight months of age.  While this shows that many companies recognize the benefits, some critics point out disadvantages of having baby-at-work programs, such as

·  Safety issues;

·  Added company insurance costs;

·  Favoritism for employees with parents over those who do not have children;

·  Distractions, problems determining payroll hours for parents who multitask parenting and work; and

·  Abuse of the privilege by parents who leave children with other employees or allow children to disturb coworkers who may be busy or trying to concentrate.

One attorney, Kathleen Sebelius, the U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services, is a huge proponent of parenting at work. Early in her career, as the executive director of the Kansas state trial lawyer’s association, she took her two baby boys to the office; as Kansas insurance commissioner, she instituted a bring-your-baby-to-work policy; and as governor of Kansas, she encouraged over 20 state agencies to allow parenting in the office. Do you think this could work in your law firm?  What do you think would be some of the pros and cons that would apply more to attorneys than other professions? Would you ever consider setting up a baby-at-work policy for your law firm?