Baby at Work program in Gilbert aims to ease stress for working parents
Mar 16, 2023, 4:35 AM | Updated: 8:50 am
PHOENIX — A program in Gilbert that lets parents take their newborns to work is making life easier for working parents.
Dani Lyons recently benefited from the town’s “Baby at Work” program. She’s a part of the Gilbert Police Department’s dispatch team. Up until Monday, she had been taking her daughter, Myka, to work for several months.
“It has been absolutely amazing,” Lyons told KTAR News 92.3 FM. “There’s been so much support from my co-workers, my employers, everybody.”
She added the program has made the transition back to work “so much more peaceful, easier and just seamless.”
The program, which launched in December 2018, lets town employees take their newborns to work until they’re 6 months old.
Lyons said she was provided a room where she could be with her daughter and work on lighter duties. She had a pack-n-play and a swing in there as well.
“We had everything to make sure that she was comfortable and good to go, and so I could also get my own paperwork side of things done at work,” she said.
Lyons added the program made her feel supported. But she wasn’t the only one who benefited – her coworkers also joined in on the fun.
“Everyone was so happy to have her there,” she said. “Seeing her little smile kind of brightened up their day too.”
This is the second time Lyons benefits from the program. She participated in 2020 with her first born.
Gilbert’s Human Resources Department has an application process for parents who want to participate in the program.
