Bring your baby to work, California proposes new law

originally posted by: Woodcarver
a reply to: JAGStorm

I would personally rather pay an employee to stay at home. Why would anybody want a baby stuck at their work all day?

I'd rather you pay them to stay home too!

a reply to: JAGStorm

How much work gets missed because the "sitter got sick" or "daycare is too expensive"?

I'm all for personal responsibility and owning up to your own responsibilities, but if a worker can get the job done while having their spawn with them, then I don't see the issue.

originally posted by: DBCowboy
a reply to: JAGStorm

How much work gets missed because the "sitter got sick" or "daycare is too expensive"?

I'm all for personal responsibility and owning up to your own responsibilities, but if a worker can get the job done while having their spawn with them, then I don't see the issue.

Go visit most new stay at home moms/dads and see how clean their house is. I'd be willing to bet good money that it isn't that clean and even a lot of basics aren't taken care of.
So if a mom/dad is able to stay in the comfort of their own home and can't multitask with a baby, what makes you think he/she will be able to get the job done, while at work. Even if they are able to get the job done it probably won't be done very well. I'm a mom, and I get it, I did the whole juggle daycare thing, I know the expense. I was also a stay at home mom, I know that sacrifice. Yet I am still honest enough to say it isn't a good thing.

a reply to: JAGStorm

*shrugs*

If you can't do your job with the bambino, then you can't.

But some may be able to.

a reply to: DBCowboy

It is not just whether a parent can handle their job and care for an infant. Co-workers may be disrupted in functioning to their peak as well. Babies cannot be shut off at will. Colicky and cranky ones more so.

Wonder if coworkers and customers will have gas masks available? Babies diaper bombs happen without warning and my god, it is amazing how that stink hovers. Especially, if they must be carried down the corridors to the changing room.

Keep that sh*t at home literally, please! Ew! Babies not conducive to office environment, especially those offices that only separate offices with cubicles.

Can see the news line now! State office burned to the ground due to untended candles and discarded matches!

a reply to: CynConcepts

Office workers deal with distractions daily.

What about perfumes and aftershaves?

I still think that if a person can do their job with their baby in tow, then they should be able to.

I'd rather have a service available with a screaming brat than not.

And with the high costs of day cares, it might even save some workers a few bucks.

I know it's a California law and California is run by complete morans, but maybe this time they got it right.

If I owned a business I'd establish and on site nursery and canine kennel (cats are good with being alone all day). Both would have payroll deductions for their use with OPEN BOOKS to the users to prove it was a not-for-profit operation. The employees using either or both would share the costs with my company paying for as much as possible of a share.

originally posted by: DBCowboy
a reply to: CynConcepts

Office workers deal with distractions daily.

What about perfumes and aftershaves?

I still think that if a person can do their job with their baby in tow, then they should be able to.

I'd rather have a service available with a screaming brat than not.

And with the high costs of day cares, it might even save some workers a few bucks.

I know it's a California law and California is run by complete morans, but maybe this time they got it right.

Yea but the key word is IF. When laws like these are passed they are apply to everyone. There is no discerning between good parents and bad. What happens when a mom or dad needs to go to a meeting, or use the bathroom. Do they take the screaming baby with them or do they expect co-workers to keep an eye out. Or do they just leave the baby in their cube/office/ out in the open? What if the baby has colic? This is a real question. My kid did. She pretty much cried for three years straight. (She's an adult now, but still sometimes cranky) I would never imagine putting my co-workers through that, but some people would.

a reply to: JAGStorm

Worst case scenario, it would suck. Your point is valid.

Speaking as a boss though?

I'd rather have a person in the office working than not. I have to think about productivity, compliance with schedules and projects.

I don't care if the office smells like a diaper pail, I need the work to get done!

a reply to: DBCowboy

Babies crying doesn't get me nearly as anxious/aggravated/homicidal as rude adults.

Things that make me think about saying F it and going ape chit every day at work.

-people chewing with their mouths open
-people having a personal phone conversation that lasts more than 30 seconds while in the same room as me
-making noise just to make noise

originally posted by: CriticalStinker
a reply to: DBCowboy

Babies crying doesn't get me nearly as anxious/aggravated/homicidal as rude adults.

Things that make me think about saying F it and going ape chit every day at work.

-people chewing with their mouths open
-people having a personal phone conversation that lasts more than 30 seconds while in the same room as me
-making noise just to make noise

That's funny and true. To this day the worst for me was my cube neighbor that didn't wash her hair. The odor would waft over and hit me in the face, every day, for six months. Sometimes it was so bad I would gag.
She was a nice person and my friend, but her hair was absolutely rotten to the core. It smelled like dead animal combined with body oil bo!

As far as the phone convo thing. I worked with a lady. She was a twin. They did a phone audit and found out she spent like 6 hours of every work day on the phone with her sister. She just got a weak warning! I couldn't believe it.

originally posted by: DBCowboy
a reply to: JAGStorm

Worst case scenario, it would suck. Your point is valid.

Speaking as a boss though?

I'd rather have a person in the office working than not. I have to think about productivity, compliance with schedules and projects.

I don't care if the office smells like a diaper pail, I need the work to get done!

As a boss, would you not ensure before your employee left 6 weeks ago that another was trained to fill in and if needed hire a temp to ensure the project is done on time? If the parent is unable to return to work in 6 weeks, you already have a replacement to ensure productivity goes smoothly, right?

The onus is on the parent choosing to have a child not their employer nor co-workers. Most employees know 6 months before a baby arrives, lots of time to prepare for their absence.

a reply to: JAGStorm

I to this day don't know how an adult human brain thinks it acceptable to have personal phone conversations in a room of coworkers. Why do you find your mundane BS so important we all have to hear it, while we try and work no less.

I think the 30 second rule is key. You know how long that conversation is going to be right when you pick up. If it's under 30 seconds or at worse it lasts a minute... Cool, no need to step out of the room. Anything over that you and your spawn need to be sterilized for committing human rights violations.

a reply to: DBCowboy

Everyone is forgetting the most important part.

Some people go to work to escape from their kids..

kidding, not kidding, maybe kidding....

Remember how good life used to be before we let kids drink coffee, now you go to the coffee shop and there are 8 year olds ordering a mocha choca latte yaya. Some people just want to ruin everything!

a reply to: JAGStorm

That's a good point.

I'm not a parent and don't ever plan to be... But I think parents and kids need their space quite frequently.

A parent is still an individual who has to do things on their own for sanity purposes. A child needs to learn how to deal with adversity and learn decision making on their own. That space in theory will make both parties cherish their time together instead of it feeling like a chore.

a reply to: CynConcepts

Again, good point. But life does happen and sometimes it even hits the fan.

I'm more interested in my Gunthers meeting their quota though than I am about "muh feels". So I say get to work, and if you need to bring your child, do it.

originally posted by: DBCowboy
a reply to: CynConcepts

Again, good point. But life does happen and sometimes it even hits the fan.

I'm more interested in my Gunthers meeting their quota though than I am about "muh feels". So I say get to work, and if you need to bring your child, do it.

If it is a law requiring you to accept the employee bringing a young infant to work with them, what do you do if all of your other employees threaten to quit? A law means a lawsuit. That one employee will never be as productive with their baby as the rest of the team.

Making it a law is bad. Guaranteeing 6 months salary to a disruptive employee/ baby, who is already 6 weeks behind from maternity leave.

a reply to: CynConcepts

Don't want to stray too far off topic, but a good boss will understand the dynamics of the office environment.

a reply to: DBCowboy

Exactly, so why does California politicians need to make it a law? Why not just internally advise their departments on how to handle these issues when they arise? A recommendation rather than a law?

originally posted by: JAGStorm
a reply to: Plotus

I think that's the thing, only STATE workers.

Somehow, in my mind that even makes it worse!
Can you imagine babies at the DMV, or the courthouses........

I was imagining this policy at the go-go bars.