Human Resources - the Family Friendly Workplace

. Societal views and expectations regarding gender in America can also be attributed to why women continue to encounter discrimination in the workplace. Throughout history, American society has considered women's roles to revolve around childbearing and raising a family. In the article "Breadwinner Moms," Wang, Parker and Taylor from the Pew Research Center of Social and Demographic Trends describe how over time, women have shown an increased presence in the workplace (U.S Department of Labor), and have also taken a stronger role in the family home by becoming the main provider for the family (Wang et al., YEAR).

These figures demonstrate significant trends in the changing profile of today’s labour pool. Not only are companies forced to recruit and hire from an increasingly diverse workforce, but companies intent on succeeding also will have to retain, motivate and engage the most talented women. Flexible work arrangements are options for helping working mothers integrate work and family responsibilities, so that women can function better both at home and in the workplace.

This generation has experienced an unprecedented upsurge in the number of women in the workplace, thus the need to understand diversity. Changes in family structure mean there are no traditional family roles, this shows that the issue of diversity cuts across both gender and race.

“A seminal study of 527 U.S. companies, published in the Academy of Management Journal in 2000, suggests that “organizations with more extensive work-family policies have higher perceived firm-level performance” among their industry peers. These findings accorded with a 2003 study conducted by Michelle Arthur at the University of New Mexico. Examining 130 announcements of family-friendly policies in The Wall Street Journal, Arthur found thst the announcements along significantly improved share prices. In 2011, a study on flexibility in the workplace by Ellen Galinsky, Kelly Sakai, and Tyler Wigton of the Families

What is Family and Medical leave Act (FMLA)? The Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) that was passed in 1993, is a national policy that grants workers up to twelve weeks of unpaid leave in four situations. These four situations are for pregnancy; to care for an infant, such as newborns, newly-placed foster children, and adoptions; to care for a relative with a serious health condition; or to allow an employee to recover and recuperate from a personal serious health condition. This paper will be discussing the impact of FMLA on employers and the protections provided by this law. (Vikesland, 2009)

Some people may not get to see their family as often as they want to because of the struggle to balance both family and work. These articles, “Double Daddy” by Penny Parkers, “Diary of a Mad Blender: A Week of Managing Every Spare Minute” by Sue Shellenbarger, and “The Child’s view of Working Parents” by Cora Daniels and Ellen Galinksy, are all based on facts about balancing work and family. Balancing responsibilities, goals, and a personal life is a struggle for many people, but the most important priorities in life, such as family, should not be neglected. Work time can get in the way of family time. In Penny Parkers article, “Double Daddy”, she writes, “These men are saying, ‘I’m working my tail off to get ahead, for the most

With the rise of the modern age economic survival has become difficult for families based on a single income. This economic need along with modern attitudes toward gender equality has resulted in women being represented in the workforce in greater numbers. However, until the 1960’s women faced severe discrimination when trying to enter and maintain a position in the workforce. Often qualified women would be passed over for men with less experience and education. Employers were fearful that women were too emotional and were not equipped to handle the stress of the work environment. Also driving the decision to not hire or promote women was the concern over the additional health care expenses and leave time pregnant

Do women belong in the workplace? Should employers treat them differently because of their responsibilities in the home? The article “Female Company President: ‘I’m Sorry to all the Mothers I Worked With’” by Kathrine Zaleski, president and co-founder of PowerToFly, argues that women can be both successful mothers and employees if employers take the initiative to accommodate them. She believes that women have the ability and skills to become both valuable employees and involved mothers, but employers need to make adjustments in several common work practices in order to build women up to their full potential.

Employee leave benefits provide benefits, such as health care and salary, during an employee's approved leave from work. Administered by the Wage and Hour Division, the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) requires employers of 50 or more employees to give up to 12 weeks of unpaid, job-protected leave to eligible employees for the birth or adoption of a child or for the serious illness of the employee or a spouse, child or parent (US Department of

The article “Female Company President: ‘I’m Sorry to all the Mothers I Worked With’” by Kathrine Zaleski, president and co-founder of PowerToFly, argues that women can be both successful mothers and employees if employers take the initiative to accommodate them. At the beginning of the article, she regretfully recalls moments in her career in which she judged other women for trying to balance family life and a career. After she gave birth to her own daughter that she realized that she held wrong and harmful attitudes towards female employees with children. Our society required her to choose between a career and raising a child, and she decided that something needs to change. She decided to co-found a company

We all had a teacher in school who took maternity leave. This standard, dictated by the 1993 federal Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA), applies not only to teachers but to women of all professions and allows mothers to take up to twelve weeks of protected, but unpaid leave (Cohn 9). This period, however, is not long enough for the mother and child to fully recover. Providing longer maternity leaves would also benefit businesses and the American society. Many countries around the world provide significantly longer leaves or even allow fathers to take paid paternity leaves. Making the American workforce a friendly place for women and families through revised maternity leave policies will benefit both the U.S. economy and U.S. families.

Providing in-house child care has the further benefit of causing very little change in an organization’s business and internal structure. However, organizations that are in a position to do so can alter their organizational structure to better accommodate a family friendly work place. Companies can allow flexible

Robert Dorment’s summary from his article talked about that women always complained about men did wrong but men who worked so hard for their family and work-life balance. Richard used that word “castigate” for men that means women scold men, but they did not realize men worked so hard. Other quote about the castigation of men, “…person whose husband, by her own admission, sacrificed much in his own academic career to do other heavy lifting with their children, all so she could pursue her dream job and then complain about it, bitterly, in the pages of a national magazine” (Dorment 708). Anne-Marie Slaughter explained that women who get promotion from other positions that they realized they do not have spent time with their family and some women who leave their jobs because of their family reasons. The quote said, “It is unthinkable that an official would actually step down to spend time with his or her family that this must be a cover for something else” (Slaughter 682). Third article called Women, work and work/life balance: Research roundup talked about the wage inequality and unequal responsibilities between men and women. Women have more family responsibilities than men do because some women are staying at home while taking care of their kids. Last article, Work-Life Balance – An integrated Approach: The case for joint and several responsibility talked about the

Our society is constantly working to become one that is completely acceptable of all people, no matter where they come from or who they are. However, as our society becomes more socially and politically aware of the discrimination that can be unfairly bestowed upon people, are the workplaces of America following suit in that level of awareness? Unfortunately, many studies prove that the American workplace is not one that is equally accepting, especially when it comes to gender. While we have truly come so far in the past century with the acceptance of women in the workplace, it seems as if we haven’t come far enough. There is still evidence of sexism in the workplace and a gender wage

In the 1960s to 1970s, a feminist movement began and sparked a change in attitudes towards women in familial roles and pushed against gender inequality. This movement’s effects trickled down to the opinions and actions of people in the later 1970s to mid-1980s. The period saw a decline in the backing of the traditional family wife role for women and greater acceptance for women finding employment (Mason, K.O., Lu, Y., 1988). However, the change also encountered backlash, with the growth of employed mothers came concerns of the negative effects on the children and their relationship with the mother (Mason, K.O., Lu, Y., 1988). This triggered an inconsistent time for family structure. The nineties saw