`Babies in the Workplace' Works for Fathers, Too

AT Capsco Sales Inc. 15 infants have spent their early months with their parents as part of the firm's Babies in the Workplace program.

Even new fathers have used the plan, devised by President Billye Ericksen. One of them, John Giannosa, supervisor of shipping, brought his daughter, Jessica, to work with him for three months.

``It was tough at first, trying to take care of her and get the job done,'' Mr. Giannosa recalls. ``I was really getting frustrated trying to handle both. But when the president of the company tells you that your work can wait and you should take care of your child, that really hits home. It's not often you see that personal side in a business.''

For Ms. Ericksen, this ``personal side'' has produced tangible benefits. ``Our turnover rate is lower, our morale is higher, and our productivity per employee is higher because of this program,'' she says.

Last December, Ericksen and her staff received another kind of reward when all the children who have taken part in the program attended the company's Christmas party with their parents.

``We were all so overwhelmed by seeing these children,'' she says. ``We've watched them grow up. These kids have changed our lives.''