The blogosphere is alight today with commentary on Sunday’s New York Times Magazine article “Family-Leave Values.” The basic thesis of the lengthy piece is that workers who have lost their jobs due to family commitments, have been suing (and winning) in greater numbers and have been doing so using an innovative argument. Rather than rallying behind the traditional call of gender discrimination, these employees are enlisting the term “family values.” Rather than call this a “woman’s issue,” it’s become a “people with families” issue.
In the Juggle blog on the Wall Street Journal, Tom Weber asks if “attitudes toward family leave and related practices (flex time, working at home) are shifting?” and whether it is “a good thing if some advocates for these practices are tying them to pro-family-values politics?”
Karen Burns’ Working Girl blog offers the stories in the article as object lessons for employed mothers (and presumably fathers), and reminds employees that,
“We need to understand family leave policies and what our rights are. We especially need to keep records of conversations and arrangements made with our bosses. Leave a paper trail, working girls!”
Whatever your view of the debate, managers need to stay abreast of the changing standards and legal landscape regarding employers’ obligations both for reasons of compassion and in order to keep their companies out of legal hot water. The Center for WorkLife Law is one resource for employers looking to stay on the right side of employment law, and offers guidance and email updates about developments in the field.
BNET Intercom readers get in on the debate. How flexible is your office to workers with family commitments? How flexible should it be? And if change is needed, what is the best way to ensure that businesses support their workers’ quest for a healthy work-life balance?
