« Policy Issues



Instituted: August 15, 2000


Staff employees in the College of Letters and Science may not bring children to campus work areas during work hours without express, prior approval from their supervisor.


Bringing children into the workplace creates a number of problems, and puts the College at risk. Although it may be a good solution for an individual employee, compared to the expense and logistics of external childcare, it is problematic for supervisors, co-workers, and the work environment of the College.

• Children are distracting, especially young children, even when they are well-behaved
• Few buildings on campus were designed for the safety of children
• Most departments don't have extra space for children
• Some amount of adult supervision is required if children are present, and any time spent on that supervision is time not spent on departmental work
• Employees without children, or those who have made other arrangements for the care of their children, resent the perceived benefit received by those who bring their children to work

UCLA may be held liable for an injury incurred by a visitor to campus. Buildings that are safe for adults are not necessarily safe for children, nor are the safety standards for children and adults the same. If the College tacitly approves the presence of children, we may bear some responsibility for providing a safe environment for them. The College is not prepared to do that.

We recognize that there may be occasions when bringing a child to work is the best solution to balancing an employee’s work and parental responsibilities. Such occasions could include an unexpected lapse in regular child care arrangements, or the need to work beyond normal hours when regular child care cannot be scheduled. Managers should make the decision of whether or not to allow children in their department on such occasions based on the needs of the department that day and the safety of the child. Employee financial considerations should not be the deciding factor, nor should personal factors. An employee may not bring a child to work because he/she does not want to use sick or vacation time, or pay for day care or a babysitter, or simply because he/she prefers to have the child there.


Bringing children to work on a regular basis (e.g. every day after four, every Friday at noon, every school holiday) is prohibited.

When regular child care breaks down the employee may explore the option of bringing the child to work with his/her supervisor. The supervisor can then make the decision based on the department’s workload that day and other scheduled events. The age of the child is another factor to consider. An older child may require little parental involvement, and pose few safety risks, while an infant or toddler may simply require too much care to be comfortably accommodated at work.

An employee who brings a child to work without prior approval will be asked to leave.

Managers are encouraged to explore flexible scheduling arrangements with employees to help them manage their child care responsibilities. Employees might be able to take a half hour, rather than an hour, lunch, if they need to leave earlier to pick up a child. It might be possible for an employee to work a reduced schedule for a period of time if that makes their child care situation more workable and the department can still manage its workload. Most employees, if given sufficient scheduling flexibility, will be able to manage both work and childcare responsibilities.