The perks of bringing your kids to work

MPW Insider is an online community where the biggest names in business and beyond answer timely career and leadership questions. Today’s answer for: If you’re a working mom — have you experienced workplace bias? If so, how do you respond? is written by Gay Gaddis, CEO and founder of T3.

It has been over 30 years, but I can still remember the feeling like it was yesterday — the angst, sadness, and guilt I felt when I had to leave my daughter and return back to work after six weeks of maternity leave. I loved my job, but I just wasn’t ready to go back yet. Quite honestly, I didn’t really need to go back to work either. My husband was a doctor and making a salary that could accommodate my decision to be a stay-at-home mom, but I found my work fulfilling and stimulating. I loved working with a team of creative professionals and wanted to continue with my career more for engagement than necessity.

Feeling torn, I decided to try my luck and offer an alternative option to the president and vice president of my company – one that would allow me to work and still spend time with my daughter. I proposed only working half-days until my daughter was nine months old. Initially, they seemed turned off and I thought I would have to put my child in daycare, like every other working mother I knew. But much to my surprise, they accepted my offer a few days later. I was thrilled, however, I ran into many obstacles along the way. I found out that some of my co-workers were talking negatively about me behind my back. They thought I was getting special treatment and not pulling my fair share of the work load. I ended up having to work even harder than before my pregnancy to eventually dispel this thinking.

Fast forward 20 years and I found myself in a similar situation, except the roles were reversed. My children were in school and I was now running my own company, T3. Within a few weeks of each other, four of my most important co-workers told me they were pregnant. As their colleague, I was happy for them to start their families. But as their boss I was overwhelmed — what if they didn’t want to come back? So, I started thinking of ways to make sure they would return. It took me a few days but I finally had an idea: what if I allowed them to bring their kids to work? At first, they all said no, but after some convincing they finally agreed. Today, over 80 children have come through the “T3 and Under” program.

Realistically, no one can completely prepare for the transition into parenthood, but there are important ways that businesses can help facilitate that balance – especially for women. According to Sheryl Sandberg’s Lean In, women who are out of the workplace for a year are likely to have a 20% lower salary and after two or three years, it drops to 30% less. A program like T3 and Under helps women figure out a manageable balance, stay in the workplace longer, and drop the bias that I experienced so many years ago.

Read all answers to the MPW Insider question: If you’re a working mom — have you experienced workplace bias? If so, how do you respond?