By 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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Contributed by Carlo Pandian, blogger for Media Recruitment

Do you ever wish that you had more hours in the day to get everything done?

Between work, household chores, family life, side projects and everything else you are responsible for, it can sometimes feel like your to-do list will never end. Unfortunately, unless you are able to bend the fabric of space and time you will never have more than 24 hours in a day!

However, what you can do is learn how to use those 24 hours more efficiently in order to get more done. This is known as the art of time management. Streamlining your tasks and getting yourself organized will help you to do more with less effort and finally feel less overwhelmed with everything on your plate.

In your quest for efficiency, why not let your smart phone be your time management tool?

You already carry it with you everywhere you go, and now you can use it to keep yourself organized. There are many great time management apps out there for which help you to make lists, schedule appointments, plan your day and much more. Try a few different types of apps until you find the one that fits your needs and helps you the most.

Here are some of the best apps for maximizing your time management.

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By Robin Madell (San Francisco)

When it comes to pregnancy and running a company, multitasking may be an understatement. But according to corporate CEO Michelle Patterson, executive director of the California Women’s Conference, women have always had an inherent ability to multitask, in even the most demanding situations.

“Women alike, whether single mothers, entrepreneurs, CEOs, teachers, and/or athletes, are not shocked or taken aback by the fact that an executive is capable of running a corporation while she is expecting,” says Patterson.

That may be because many of them have already done just that. An informal poll by The Glass Hammer found a large number of executives who cited their experience managing pregnancy, maternity leave, and jobs—either with a slight pause or not.

“Whether a woman chooses to work through her maternity leave is a personal choice and shouldn’t set a precedent for other professionals,” adds Debby Carreau, CEO of Inspired HR. “If you choose to return emails in the delivery room that is your prerogative, as is taking time away from work and getting away from it all.”

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By Robin Madell (San Francisco)

Though Yahoo’s new CEO Marissa Mayer didn’t ask to be a role model for pregnant executives, she has nonetheless become one. But beyond Mayer, what is the effect of her choices on executive women across the board and in the boardroom?

After all, says Sasha Galbraith, Marissa Mayer isn’t the only senior executive who has tried to tackle a work-life blend. She recalls attending a lecture by a pregnant CEO in tech some 20 years ago. “Mayer is not the first pregnant CEO in tech,” Galbraith says. “There have been others, but they haven’t been as high-powered.”

Some suggest that other female executives can parlay the momentum of the announcement into a teachable moment—for women, corporations, and society. “Mayer’s situation signals to other women that we need to let go of societal expectations around gender roles and questioning women’s abilities to balance a demanding career and a baby, and accept that it can be done in much the same way men do it,” says Jamie Ladge, assistant professor of management and organizational development at Northeastern University’s College of Business.

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By Tina Vasquez (Los Angeles)

In a 2008 examination of 21 high-income countries, the Center for Economic and Policy Research (CEPR) found that the U.S. ranked 20^th in terms of generosity of parental leave and policy designs for couples – just ahead of dead last Switzerland. And the situation hasn’t improved much since. When Australia began its Paid Parental Scheme last year, the United States became the only member of the 34-country Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development that does not offer some form of paid leave to working parents after the birth or adoption of a child.

The Family Medical Leave Act (FMLA) of 1993 entitles eligible employees of covered employers to take unpaid, job-protected leave for certain family and medical reasons with continuation of group health insurance coverage under the same terms and conditions as if the employee had not taken leave. The FMLA does not apply to all employers or to all employees, however. According to the CEPR report, “about 40 percent of American workers are not eligible for FMLA, and only about a quarter of U.S. employers offer fully paid maternity-related leave of any kind.

In many ways, work/family debates are as much about class as they are about gender – highly educated and relatively wealthy professional women likely fare better in that they can afford high quality child care. Yet, in the U.S., the lack of maternity benefits is one of the few things that affects all working mothers, at all income levels, in all stages of their careers. But this is not just a women’s issue and discussing it as such only makes progress more unlikely. Only 50 nations offer paid leave for fathers and, though paid parental leave is not mandated in the U.S., there are some state-run programs, such as California and New Jersey.

When work/life balance was framed as a women’s issue, progress was slow, but as it continues to be framed as a topic that affects all workers, flexible work options are becoming more prevalent. How can we continue to restructure the debate – and the reality – so women, men, families, and employers win?

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