Why flex-time for moms works for everyone

Darrel In Edinboro, PA — Tue, 11 Sep 2007 16:36:12 GMT

I find it preposterous and ingenuous the statement that "working mothers get the double whammy". As a working father, I do my share of the dishes, cooking, cleaning, laundry, grocery shopping, and child care, along with the sole responsibilities of mowing the lawn, taking care of the garden, home improvements, car repairs, etc.
Your statement smacks of some serious bias and neglects to give credit to us working fathers who do more than come home and watch the television.
I, for one, would love to be able to work from home, and care for our 2-year old daughter at the same time. Flex-time of the sort portrayed above will not come to Pennsylvania in my lifetime.......

Why flex-time for moms works for everyone

Rehema Ellis — Tue, 11 Sep 2007 22:11:03 GMT

Dear Darrel,You're right! It's not just women. And none of this should be gender biased. While this is a series that is focused on women I was trying to point out that EVERYONE STANDS TO BENEFIT. Note this line from the blog above: "I wouldn't be surprised if women, especially working mothers, lead the way in bringing about a revolution in the workplace that could really be BENEFICIAL TO EVERYONE and bring some balance back to people's lives". That's moms and DADS.

Why flex-time for moms works for everyone

Chrissie, Lexington, Kentucky — Tue, 11 Sep 2007 23:29:15 GMT

I find it appalling that, after all this time, the questions are still "Can women have it all?" or "How can women balance work and family?" when neither of these questions are being asked regarding men.

To me, it is gender biased when it is taken for granted that men can have it all, and women have to work for it.

Why flex-time for moms works for everyone

Victoria Parham — Wed, 12 Sep 2007 00:26:11 GMT

Rehema, kudos on this series! I'm a former Army wife / mom who encountered work/family balance and portable career issues as my then active duty husband faced military relocations every 3-5 years. In today's workforce, working parents as a whole are looking, wishing, and hoping for work/family balance resources and opportunities. After much research, I finally made the decision in 1997 to create my own work/family balance by becoming self-employed and in doing so I've been able to build a successful portable career, business and raise my family, a daughter who will be graduating high school in 2008. During the past 10 or so years, my husband relocated 8 times and with each relocation I've continued to run my business, thanks to technology.

With today's advanced technologies, companies of all sizes should seriously consider exploring and implementing flexible work options for all working parents. Benefits packages for today's workforce, include job flexbility.

With a full-scale home office I'm able to provide professional quality support services to disbursed clients around the world (literally), serve as an indpendent/subcontractor to major corporations and federal clients.

Today's younger workforce is not our mother's and grandfather's workforce. The cost of living, housing markets, child care and gas prices have significantly increased over the years. Let's not forget work hours for parents have changed also, they're becoming longer. Flexible work hours, job-sharing, home-based and virtual work arrangents are the wave of the future.

Without change, companies will loose invaluable employees to their competitors.

Thanks for the series and I hope that you will do a follow-on series to include portable and virtual careers.

Why flex-time for moms works for everyone

Suzanne, CA — Wed, 12 Sep 2007 13:12:14 GMT

I am one of these woman living this everyday. I work full time for the federal government (who by the way do not offer maternity leave or even short term disability to help cover maternity leave costs). I fought for months to work from home one day a week and every three months when I have to have it renew it I go through the scrutiny. I am the only person in my organization allowed to this. I do my job very well and have always gotten exceptional ratings, however my career and hard earned reputation has suffered from just this one day a week. As for men, I do agree that they could use some flexability as well, however, studies have shown that women, including myself, do take on the majority of home tasks to include cooking, cleaning, and childcare. Flexible time offers me more time with my family, the ability to get things done during the day when things are open, and ability to go to local appointments without having to take time off. The mentality of needing to be seen in the office to prove you are working is long over.

Why flex-time for moms works for everyone

Stephanie, Atlanta, GA — Wed, 12 Sep 2007 13:47:19 GMT

Here is my problem with all of this. This works great as you stated for women in "paper-oriented" jobs. However, what about the women out there that have made it to a certain level in their career where responsibilities and expectations are much higher, ie Executive levels. To me this says, sure you can have "work/life balance" if you want to stay in a mid level, back office position during the prime of your career. I struggle with the fact that if I want to be in the position I am in and make the kind of money I make, I need to be working just as much as my male counterparts. This is a true struggle. Do I take a lesser position and make 75% less than what I am making, or do I kill myself working 12 hours a day and hopefully not neglect my children too badly?

Why flex-time for moms works for everyone

Annette, Denver, Colorado — Wed, 12 Sep 2007 14:38:37 GMT

Rehema,

As a full-time working mother, I appreciate you highlighting companies who value family/life balance. And I concur that the same should be afforded to men.

I work for a company in Denver, ITonCommand, and am afforded a great deal of flexibility. Our company offers a hosted desktop and network solution that provides full network access--not just email--to users. For small-and-medium-sized businesses, this means they can now afford to offer highly-secure, remote computing.

Since we eat our own cooking, I'm fortunate to be able to work from home when my child is sick, has teacher-in-service days, or any other issues that require me to be there for him. I even avoid commuting on days when weather makes driving a hazard. And in Denver last winter, that was pretty often. Why sit in the car an extra 1-2 hours a day in snowy conditions, when I could be utilizing that same time to get work done? My boss' saying is "I don't care when you work. I don't care where you work. I care THAT you work." And because I've proven to be a valuable contributer to my company regardless of where I boot up my laptop, it's a win/win. This benefit is extended to our entire staff--which is predominantly male--not just sales and management positions. Even our admin positions can work remotely without skipping a beat. The company benefits from increased productivity. Most of the staff put in many more hours than what they might if they were tied to the office 9-5. Most of our staff is online in the evening and even on weekends, because we want to be. Flexibility is the best perk you can offer a working parent, or any other employee who wants to try and have work/life balance. I hope to see more companies learn to TRUST their workforce. And I hope our platform helps the small-and-medium-sized companies implement the technology that Fortune 500 companies enjoy. I think the SMBs have a tough time competing in the job market against enterprise-level benefits. ITonCommand gives them a leg up in that regard.

Why flex-time for moms works for everyone

KC Plummer, Bel Air, MD — Sat, 29 Sep 2007 17:20:31 GMT

Darrel, in Edinboro, PA..Kudos to you for helping out with the houshold responsibilities! It is a fact that
there is a "double whammy" for woman because whether you want to admit it or not....."Women do carry the brunt of everything"...even in today's age when many women are in the executive role at work....they are still the ones who come home, clean, shop, take care of the children, (many mow the lawn), laundry, pay the bills....etc...and if the "household" isn't in working order...it does reflect badly on woman because the majority of the population has "that" mind set! Come on "people" we're coming up on..."48" years of gender equality...almost "5" decades of gender equality...Come on "guys"...jump in...do the laundry (don't ask how...just jump in and figure it out...some guys have been known to figure out how to rebuild engines)...it's not brain surgery...jump in...
go to the grocery store without being asked...don't ask what is needed at the store...look in the pantry and figure it out (some guys have been known to figure out how to build sheds)...you see something on the floor..."PICK IT UP...IT WON'T BITE"!!! Don't just walk over it..."CLEAN THE HOUSE WITHOUT BEING ASK TO"...JUST DO IT!!! (you contribute to the mess...contribute to the restoration!!!)

"One" person can't do it all...if it is left up to one person to shoulder everything...the household "WILL FALL APART"!

If only the guys would figure this out they could have "HAPPY" partners...and you know what happens when
your partner is happy...it's "INFECTIOUS"

Darrel you should be commended for your contributions to your family...if only the 80 - 85% of the male population that do come home to sit down and watch TV would just "jump in" with the same contributions as you, the world would be a more "peaceful" place to live!!!

Darrel, maybe you should start your own program to show the 80 - 85% of the population's "slackers" how it is done!!! (I am not trying to be "snarky" when I
say this...I am serious!!!) Darrel, you should really be less upset with the factual "double whammy statement" and should be MORE UPSET with the "GUYS"
in this generation that make it difficult for you to be appreciated for your contributions to your household!!! Lead the way!!!