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HR Compliance Law Bulletin:

In the spring, swine flu fears sparked sudden closures at more than 100 schools in at least eight states, sending parents scrambling for last-minute child care. Some parents stayed home, some found alternative care, and some brought their children with them to work.

Not everyone agreed with the latter choice. "This morning, one of our workers stated she had to work from home since her son's school was closed due to the swine flu, or she could just bring her son up to the office and work. Ummmm-please stay home," wrote one per-son on a national parenting Internet forum.

HR Compliance Law Bulletin (download PDF of article)

Middle ground is acceptable

Audrey Mross, a partner at Munck Carter PC in Dallas, Texas, says that not every policy has to in-clude an outright ban. "If the environment, including coworkers, are a menable to the occasional child at work, have a policy that explains the limitations which the parent will be responsible for enforcing, such as no roaming, noise, food/drink, off limits areas, and so on," she says.

The important thing is to have a nd communicate a policy so that everyone in the workplace has the same expectation. "A policy puts everyone on fair notice," Mross says.

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