UW–Madison is a family-friendly workplace and supports work-life balance by providing appropriate flexibilities for employees, who may want or need to bring a child or children to the workplace for brief visits, specific campus events, situational convenience, or family emergencies.
Maintaining the safety and health of UW–Madison employees, students, guests and visitors relies upon the control of hazardous conditions and prevention of unsafe behaviors. When visitors are children, diligence to guard against unsafe conditions and unpredictable behaviors must be heightened.
Examples include but are not limited to:
This policy applies to an employee responsible for bringing a child or children into a campus workplace, regardless of the employee’s relationship to the child or children.
This policy does not apply to children while they are in the care of a university child care program, participating in a university camp or youth enrichment program, or attending university classes in which they are enrolled. This policy does not apply to a child who has a parent with a workplace assignment in which one of the conditions of employment is residency in a campus facility (e.g., live-in residence hall director.)
An employee may want to bring a child or children into the workplace under several circumstances, including:
Children are not to be brought to work in lieu of extended and regular childcare.
Children are not allowed in high risk areas, as defined in this policy, unless an exception has been agreed to by management of the area and the institutional risk manager or safety officer.
Employees and management must accept certain responsibilities (listed below) to protect the welfare of the child and the integrity of the workplace.
An employee who brings a child or children into the workplace is responsible for:
Management is responsible for:
Management has the authority to disallow the presence of children in the workplace in accordance with this policy. Examples include, but are not limited to, determining that a child’s presence is unsafe, poses a health risk, or is disruptive.
Bringing a child or children into the workplace is generally not part of an employee’s job duties and is generally not undertaken as an agent of UW–Madison, although rare exceptions may occur. Therefore, an employee who brings a child or children into the workplace may not (and should not expect to) be covered by the University’s liability insurance for any negligent or intentional injury related to the child’s or children’s presence in the workplace.
A child or children as defined by this policy are not covered by the University’s liability insurance or workers compensation programs. A child or children are expected to be covered by their parent’s or guardian’s health insurance in the event the child or children are hurt or injured while in the workplace.
UW-5050 Personal and Legal Holidays
UW-5064 University Staff Grievances Policy
Academic Staff Grievances and Complaints – please see: UW-707 Academic Staff Policies and Procedures: Chapter 7 - Employment Problems: Informal Resolution and Grievance Procedures
Faculty Grievances and Complaints – please see: UW-808 Faculty Policies and Procedures Chapter 8.15: Grievances of Faculty Members
Workplace Flexibility: Workplace Flexibility Toolkit
Office of Child Care & Family Resources
Little Chicks (back-up care)
Kids Kare (program providing sliding scale fee support for employees, based on income)
Breastfeeding/Lactation (list of lactation rooms on campus)
03-02-2020
