Working it out
Last week Good Morning America contributor Tory Johnson wrote a provocative column asking whether it was fair to extend benefits like flexible hours, paid maternity and paternity leave, and others parents but not equal rights to non-parents. The response was so overwhelming, she's published a follow-up.
Here's a snip:
Other people  those with kids and without  disagreed, saying none of us is entitled to accommodations, and that if someone can't handle their responsibilities at work, they should change jobs.
Men and women without children expressed resentment for being expected to pick up the slack when a parent comes in late or leaves early to tend to their families. They said they believe it shows a lack of respect for their personal time. They're tired of the assumption that no kids means no life outside of work.
Some people went so far as to say that working is a choice for parents, and if they can't handle their jobs, they should stay home. (In fairness to parents, most people work out of necessity. They don't have the financial luxury to abandon their jobs.)
This is clearly a very tricky issue! One of the benefits of being childfree is the ability to pursue one's career uninhibited by maternity leaves, shorter work days, and the like. And because I have to share a world with these kids, I don't necessarily want them to be raised by the television because their parents have to work late. At the same time, parent or no, you are obligated to do the job you are hired to do and not expect your childfree colleagues to pick up the slack. And it does strike me that if flexible hours are being offered, they should be offered to everyone. I don't understand the mentality of saying nobody is entitled to accomodations. I mean, a bathroom break could be seen as an accomodation if you want to be rigid about it!
Curious what other hard-working childfree people think!
[LINK]
Here's a snip:
Other people  those with kids and without  disagreed, saying none of us is entitled to accommodations, and that if someone can't handle their responsibilities at work, they should change jobs.
Men and women without children expressed resentment for being expected to pick up the slack when a parent comes in late or leaves early to tend to their families. They said they believe it shows a lack of respect for their personal time. They're tired of the assumption that no kids means no life outside of work.
Some people went so far as to say that working is a choice for parents, and if they can't handle their jobs, they should stay home. (In fairness to parents, most people work out of necessity. They don't have the financial luxury to abandon their jobs.)
This is clearly a very tricky issue! One of the benefits of being childfree is the ability to pursue one's career uninhibited by maternity leaves, shorter work days, and the like. And because I have to share a world with these kids, I don't necessarily want them to be raised by the television because their parents have to work late. At the same time, parent or no, you are obligated to do the job you are hired to do and not expect your childfree colleagues to pick up the slack. And it does strike me that if flexible hours are being offered, they should be offered to everyone. I don't understand the mentality of saying nobody is entitled to accomodations. I mean, a bathroom break could be seen as an accomodation if you want to be rigid about it!
Curious what other hard-working childfree people think!
[LINK]
2 Comments:
This is such an interesting issue. A related issue that I've seen is how to handle time off work in connection with advancement. For example, I'm an attorney and partnership tracks are usually about 7-9 years. So how should taking 3-4 months off for maternity leave and then coming back at a reduced billable hour schedule impact that track? On one hand, we shouldn't penalize working mothers. On the other hand, the number of hours she will have logged will be significantly less than the hours of her peers who didn't have (either at all, or just physicially) kids. I don't know the right answer. There probably isn't one.
There's a lot of debate around work-life balance going on in Australia too. But it's always about making workplaces more 'family friendly'.
Non-work life does not have to automatically equal family, but that doesn't seem to be on the table.
Or if people are talking flexibility, it always seems to be in the employers favour.
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