Drafter
Clerk 03/21/2018
Title
A MOTION requesting a plan to implement an infants at work pilot program for eligible King County employees and their infants.
Body
WHEREAS, in 2015, the Washington state Department of Health implemented an "Infants at Work Policy" based on the long-term health value of breastfeeding newborns and bonding, and
WHEREAS, the state Department of Health program allows eligible parents or guardians to bring their infants age six weeks to six months to work, and
WHEREAS, the Parenting in the Workplace Institute reports that key benefits of "Infants at Work" programs are that new parents have the option to return to work earlier which decreases their childcare costs, contributing to increased financial stability for employees, and
WHEREAS, providing creative parental supports like "Infants at Work" programs can increase employee loyalty, thereby reducing employee turnover, which has been estimated to cost twenty-one percent of each employee's annual salary, and
WHEREAS, a program to allow babies in the workplace would create increased opportunity to breastfeed which has been proven by the World Health Organization to reduce infant mortality and accelerate recovery during illnesses that could put the employee out on sick leave to care for their infant, and
WHEREAS, according to the Parenting in the Workplace Institute, more than two thousand one hundred babies in more than two hundred organizations have been successfully brought to work in office-based, cubicle-based, open-plan environments, and
WHEREAS, in 2017, the National Association of Insurance Commissioners marked twenty years of its "Infants in the Workplace" program during which they have been recognized for excellence in work-life balance, and
WHEREAS, establishing an infants-at-work policy will further King County's commitment to being an employer of choice and assist in continuing to recruit and retain a diverse and excellent workforce to better serve the people of Kin...

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