Is your workplace pro-family?

[Coolkidsrock2]

Both DH and my company take care of our family well so that we can work with peace of mind. But it also means we are driven hard. 60-90 hours work week is norm for us. So far, the company and management is supportive if we should need to take sabbatical as part of our work life balance initiative. I cannot ask for more.

[zarahsmom]

Nebbermind:

slmkhoo:

[quote=\"Nebbermind\"]I know certain coy choose to employ ladies who r rejoining the workforce. Why? Coz they r less likely to take urgent leave to tend to sick children

What industry and what area of work? I'm going to return to the workforce at 50yo so I'd be interested!

Should be admin, non-exec work lah.[/quote]am not sure if this kinda age-biased.. in our workplace there are a few women who just rejoined the workforce and they were 50+, and at least one of them is holding a Finance Manager role.. not a simple admin job.. and she is as sharp as any 28 year old girl..and yes, they kinda add some sort of \"maturity\" and \"stability\" to the team, as all of her children are now married.. so she tends to treat her direct reports as daughters/sons..

also she is very friendly to young mothers (or middle-age mothers who have very young kids).. certainly not the alpha female.. she actually promotes family friend atmosphere through her daily interactions with people..our company I would say is not pro-family but, some individuals do try to compensate for it.. by trying not to super impose stringent rules..

[Imami]

Joule:

ok lets flip it over


if you are the boss / manager

would you be 'pro-family' and how 'pro-family' would you be?

In my previous company in which i lead a team, I have never reprimanded my team when they didnt turn up on time, because they would stay to complete their work or bring work home (for those who need to pick their school going children). I understand how much it can pisses people off if I tell them to be punctual.

I had a few working mothers in my team, with preschool children. I gave them the flexibility of going off earlier/ coming in later if their kid's were sick. They could work from home for a few days, if really necessary. We were all issued with laptop with VPN access, connected by msn/hp etc.

My own boss extended the same privileges for me.

In my current environment, there are pro-family measures in place. They are stated in the employee handbook but these are like taboo... We have flexi working hours in which staff can choose to start earlier/later than the norm. However, certain team leads would make it very difficult for one to apply for staggered working hours. They would say things like \"how would u know if you would be punctual, since there is hardly anyone in the office at such early timing?\" or \"if there are late meetings (after the official hours), will you stay around to attend?\"

We also have the \"blue sky day\" where employees can go home earlier than usual. But I don't see many managers/directors telling their folks to leave early.

Although it is a generally common observation that female bosses may be harder to please, my take is, individual, rather than gender that makes the diff. Also, having all such measures are of no use if the folks in the environment do not subscribe to them/are not supportive of them.

[mgnvr]

It’s easy for HR to include such incentives in the policies but difficult to execute. It has always been subject to the immediate supervisor. So it boils down to the individual.

[straffan23]

If the situation is reversed....


I previously managed a team of 5. We were in the IT industry then and life was hectic and forever busy; but I recall how I always made it a point to make sure that one of the female staff knock off early enough to pick her kid up from the nanny. Many times, I ended up being her chauffer, sending her to fetch her kid and dropping her off. Something I can do in 30mins driving, but it would take her over an hour with public transport.

The time-keeper nazi said, no, she will not understand (the issues of a FTWM) because she hasn't got a family yet. But she apparently has been so sick for so long (working all 4 days in the last 4 weeks!!)... she must be either pregnant, else she might be terminal? Like a colleague pointed out today... precisely, because she was only there one day a week, and that was the day we were late... so all the other days doesn't count! :siao:

And sometimes, people just don't make sense, right? Yes, if I arrive early everyday and start the day with breakfast at the table (like mrs nazi), that is okay... if they cannot have my soul they want my body present, anyway. :rotflmao:

[Joule]

straffan23:

If the situation is reversed....


I previously managed a team of 5. We were in the IT industry then and life was hectic and forever busy; but I recall how I always made it a point to make sure that one of the female staff knock off early enough to pick her kid up from the nanny. Many times, I ended up being her chauffer, sending her to fetch her kid and dropping her off. Something I can do in 30mins driving, but it would take her over an hour with public transport.

The time-keeper nazi said, no, she will not understand (the issues of a FTWM) because she hasn't got a family yet. But she apparently has been so sick for so long (working all 4 days in the last 4 weeks!!)... she must be either pregnant, else she might be terminal? Like a colleague pointed out today... precisely, because she was only there one day a week, and that was the day we were late... so all the other days doesn't count! :siao:

And sometimes, people just don't make sense, right? Yes, if I arrive early everyday and start the day with breakfast at the table (like mrs nazi), that is okay... if they cannot have my soul they want my body present, anyway. :rotflmao:

hmmm. ah.

Yes. I totally agree. My situation is sometimes I come in late. But I don't take 1.5 - 2 hr long lunches or teabreaks! Eh hello, don't need to work ah?

back to topic. Sometimes the way boss speaks to you can be misinterpreted. One of my friends had her kid sick and so had to rush off from work to cc to pick up. Her boss was a bit clueless that day and ask her to file time off thru sms(meaning officially report to HR that she left 1.5 hrs early). This lead to her being upset for the whole night and tears in the office the next day. Until the boss explained to her it was a miscomm, he purposely wasn't trying to be anal or give her a hard time.

on the personal side I quite like working with aunties. They talk nicely to people and they can get their work out of you (admin and stuff). Along with that they probably have grown kids so they might be more experienced in settling work disputes which happen time to time. Best part is sometimes they bring food that they make to the office for us to eat. = ) And they give me chance to practice my broken hokkien.

[SarChar]

When I was about 7-8 wks pregnant with DD1, and my boss asked me to take a 2 wk business trip to Honolulu and Chicago. But I said no.


My boss said to me \"do you think pregnant dont need to eat\"
Huh? He meant \"pregnant must also work\".

But I didnt go...in the end, 911 happened! Everyone was struck there with little food for extra 4-5 days and no flight out of Hawaii. I went to Temple and prayed :thankyou:

[peapot]

Wa! Heng Ah!!

[SarChar]

you all have no idea manh!


Even at 8 months pregnant, he kept me working on some reports till almost 9pm…
Before I left the office, I went to him and said " Actually I am not hungry but she is " pointing to my swollen belly.

[peapot]

SarChar:

you all have no idea manh!


Even at 8 months pregnant, he kept me working on some reports till almost 9pm....
Before I left the office, I went to him and said \" Actually I am not hungry but she is \" pointing to my swollen belly.

Your boss is a slave driver!!! Crazy!!! Karma..