Prue DeAraugoIs there such thing as a work life balance?
March 18th 2008 10:28
Thirty years ago women were fighting for the right to be allowed to return to the work force after having a baby without losing their position within the orgqanisation. Now finally after both both men and women have the right to take parental leave, the reality for families in today’s economic climate is that most can’t afford to have one parent stay at home with the children for too long.
Family relationships start to suffer because many work places regardless of what they claim are not family friendly. Many of my friends returned to work within six months of having a baby and it is definitely not smooth sailing for them. Some have gone back and then resigned within months due to long hours.
Let’s look at the reality of the supposed family friendly policies:
Returning part time – Some of my friends have returned to do three days a week, but in reality, they are still given five days worth of work to do. So many end up working late and taking work home to do on their days off. Good for the employer who has cut you from a five-day salary to a three-day salary but still get five days work out of you.
Flexi hours – Some women are allowed to start at 7am in the morning so they can leave at 3pm to pick up the kids from crèche or be there when they come home from school. In reality, though when a client rings at 2.50pm or the boss decides they need to talk many feel guilty about saying they need to go.
Job Share – Yeah ok same as part time only the employer gets two good employees for the price of one.
So many women I know work who long hours, feel guilty about knocking off at 5pm, and are constantly being fined by the childcare because they are late picking their kids up.
I haven’t forgotten the men either, most of the time they are not the ones called to pick up the sick kids from childcare in the middle of the day, but fathers should not be made to feel guilty about wanting to leave by five or six either. Several times last week, my partner didn’t get home until 8pm which means he didn’t get a chance to see Samantha at all that day as she was all tucked up in bed.
For those of you who do not have children don’t think this implies that parents expect you to do all the work. Even in my single days I was annoyed that I couldn’t get away early enough during the week to go out or even go to the gym. Everyone deserves a good work life balance to have a life outside work.
Doing the occasional late night may be unavoidable at times but it is a problem when it becomes a regular occurrence. It is so short sighted of employers as well, I have worked for companies where staff just get so burnt out they leave, it’s like a revolving office door, and must be costing them so much in terms of recruitment. Surely it would be so much cheaper to employ temporary staff to help employees through the busy times rather than having to constantly replace the full timers.
I have been debating my returning to work options since January and to be honest I am in no hurry. Seriously thinking about just working from home on my own terms.
Family relationships start to suffer because many work places regardless of what they claim are not family friendly. Many of my friends returned to work within six months of having a baby and it is definitely not smooth sailing for them. Some have gone back and then resigned within months due to long hours.
Let’s look at the reality of the supposed family friendly policies:
Returning part time – Some of my friends have returned to do three days a week, but in reality, they are still given five days worth of work to do. So many end up working late and taking work home to do on their days off. Good for the employer who has cut you from a five-day salary to a three-day salary but still get five days work out of you.
Flexi hours – Some women are allowed to start at 7am in the morning so they can leave at 3pm to pick up the kids from crèche or be there when they come home from school. In reality, though when a client rings at 2.50pm or the boss decides they need to talk many feel guilty about saying they need to go.
Job Share – Yeah ok same as part time only the employer gets two good employees for the price of one.
So many women I know work who long hours, feel guilty about knocking off at 5pm, and are constantly being fined by the childcare because they are late picking their kids up.
I haven’t forgotten the men either, most of the time they are not the ones called to pick up the sick kids from childcare in the middle of the day, but fathers should not be made to feel guilty about wanting to leave by five or six either. Several times last week, my partner didn’t get home until 8pm which means he didn’t get a chance to see Samantha at all that day as she was all tucked up in bed.
For those of you who do not have children don’t think this implies that parents expect you to do all the work. Even in my single days I was annoyed that I couldn’t get away early enough during the week to go out or even go to the gym. Everyone deserves a good work life balance to have a life outside work.
Doing the occasional late night may be unavoidable at times but it is a problem when it becomes a regular occurrence. It is so short sighted of employers as well, I have worked for companies where staff just get so burnt out they leave, it’s like a revolving office door, and must be costing them so much in terms of recruitment. Surely it would be so much cheaper to employ temporary staff to help employees through the busy times rather than having to constantly replace the full timers.
I have been debating my returning to work options since January and to be honest I am in no hurry. Seriously thinking about just working from home on my own terms.
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