Employees are responsible for making personal child care arrangements including those to accommodate emergency situations. Employees may request use of accrued vacation leave, compensatory time, sick leave (when appropriate), personal business leave, leave without pay or other appropriate leave in accordance with established procedures if they are unable to report to work due to unexpected family emergencies or childcare problems. Managers are encouraged to approve requests for leave resulting from childcare arrangements or other family emergencies whenever leave is available and the employee can be spared from his/her responsibilities. Additionally, employees can explore options with their manager, such as a change in their work schedule, to allow them more flexibility in caring for their children.

1. Employees may not bring children to their work area unless prior approval by a manager has been obtained for the following exceptions:
   1. Officially sanctioned activities (such as "Take Our Children to Work", official School-to-Work programs, etc.).
   2. Short visits with employees during breaks or at lunch. Such visits are to occur in a manner that is not disruptive to co-workers.
   3. On isolated occasions, employees may bring a child into the workplace, as long as the child is not disruptive during that time.
      
      Children in the workplace must be supervised by the child’s parent or guardian at all times.
      
      Sick children, particularly children with known infectious diseases, must not be brought into the work area at any time. Employees should use appropriate/available accrued leaves should they need to be absent from the workplace to care for sick children.
2. These guidelines are based on the following premises:
   1. The presence of children, in the workplace may be disruptive to the work environment and may impact the accomplishment of the work of the organization.
   2. It is inappropriate to bring children to the workplace as a substitute for childcare.