Off Balance: Unequal Work-Life for Parents and Non-Parents?

She is leading the way in her fieldBy Robin Madell (San Francisco)

Do parents get a better deal in the office when it comes to work-life balance? An increasing chorus of workers says yes. A recent article in The New York Times called “When the Work-Life Scales Are Unequal” garnered hundreds of comments reflecting conflicting viewpoints on how to address the perceived inequity.

Some interviewed for the article shared their experience of having to work up to 70 hours a week to pick up the slack covering for colleagues who were on “kid duty.” One interviewee was quoted as saying, “Parents are a special class and get special treatment,” noting that unlike many of the parents with whom she worked, she often sacrificed her own family duties to care for her elderly grandparents because of work commitments.

Marketer Allison Hart says that the conversation brought back memories of serving as an EVP of marketing for an international company earlier in her career. “There were always stacks of work to get done but the hallways were empty by late afternoon because it was Back-to-School night, or Halloween, or recital night, or Little League playoffs, or someone had the chickenpox,” says Hart.

Hart added that while there always seemed to be a good reason for parents to leave work before the end of the day because of their kids, as a single person with no children, she felt she had no comparable “need” to leave early. “I used to joke that if I needed to get my hair done, I would tell people I had a parent-teacher conference, even though I have no children!” says Hart.

Many non-parents chimed in to explain that they feel left out by flex initiatives aimed specifically at moms and dads. This could lead to resentment between the groups, and a difficult office environment. How can managers allay these tensions?

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Flex Execs: How to Get Your Teammates on Board with Your Telecommuting

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iStock_000004026171XSmallBy Robin Madell (San Francisco)

If you use flex time at work or telecommute, you may find, like Rodney Dangerfield, that you “don’t get no respect.” A report by The Center for Work & Family notes that a primary challenge for organizations that use telecommuting is the “perceived difficulty in monitoring employee performance and measuring employee productivity.” In other words, many office-bound managers and colleagues think flex workers aren’t pulling their weight.

Yet ample research has proven otherwise. A July 2012 study by Stanford University [PDF] researchers found that employees with flexible work arrangements are actually more productive than their office-bound counterparts, despite skepticism over its effectiveness suggested by phrases like “shirking from home.” In the study, telecommuters took 15 percent more calls, worked 11 percent more hours, and had 4 percent higher overall productivity than office colleagues.

In her book Innovations in Office Design: The Critical Influence Approach to Effective Work Environments, author Diane Stegmeier reported on a wide range of studies that echo Stanford’s findings:

  • American Express found telecommuting can increase employee productivity by as much as 45 percent.
  • AT&T found teleworkers spend an additional hour working per day on average.
  • Future Foundation found teleworkers saved their employers up to 10 hours weekly in the United Kingdom.
  • The Telework Coalition found telecommuting can increase employee productivity more than 20 percent.

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