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Here are some of my favorite links and news items about working dads and work-life policy from the past few months.
But first, a reminder that my book, The Working Dad’s Survival Guide, launches June 9th, and is available for pre-order on Amazon.com now (What a great Father’s Day gift idea for you or for one of the dads in your life!)
Here’s some of what I’ve been up to, followed by links to my favorite recent articles:
I was quoted in this smart article in Inc. Magazine, commenting on a study by Ernst & Young on work-family issues facing millenials. A quick excerpt about controlling one’s work hours: Behson sounds like he’d like to hear less apologizing. “If you need to leave early one day for whatever reason, as long as you’re a good employee, just go,” he says. “You don’t need to advertise that it’s for family, but you don’t need to hide it, either.”
I was extensively quoted in a great article at Fatherly.com examining “The Third Shift” – logging back into work at night after a full day of work and parenting. A quote: “If this is an outlet valve that allows employees to create time for a life during regular working hours, then it’s absolutely a good thing.”
I also contributed as a consultant for the first edition of the Fatherly 50- The 50 best places to work for new dads, which highlights employers with good paternity leave policies, workplace flexibility and other family supports.
I participated in a webinar on work-family issues for dads, along with friends at the CIty Dads Group and my not-for-profit book partner, A Better Balance (I am donating a portion of all book profits to them).
In this webinar, I discuss how dads can advocate for themselves in the workplace
And, now to some of my favorite links:
Thanks in part to A Better Balance, Philadelphia is the latest city to implement Paid Sick Leave legislation. Employees can earn up to 5 paid sick days a year for themselves or to care for sick family members. For hourly and working-class workers, this is an enormous step forward.
The NYTimes reported on an important study showing that many men who work at “all-in” competitive workplaces often give the impression they are working killer hours, when in reality, they are spending some of that time being involved dads. Of course, since management doesn’t notice, it just shows the absurdity of “all in” work expectations and measuring work in terms of “perceived time on task” instead of performance.
The Economist details how paternity leave leads to more paternal involvement later on, and how this helps moms and kids. I’d like to add that paternity leave is good for dads and employers, too. Here’s my personal story.
My takeaway from this excellent NYTimes piece on work-life balance in Silicon Valley is that you can’t be a family-supportive employer if you don’t respect people’s tie away from work, no matter how many perks and poilicies you may offer.
I highly recommend Stew Friedman’s excellent HBR piece
The always awesome Stew Friedman (I am so honored that he wrote the foreword to my book) wrote this great article for Harvard Business Review that emphasizes that career and life priorities change over time, and that we need to adjust our expectations and goals accordingly.
Brigid Schulte wrote a typically excellent article in the Washington Post, reporting on a study that demosntrates the importance of quality family time. In it, she reports that large quantities of distracted time is not nearly as important for kids as somewhat smaller amounts of focused family time. Really important stuff.
Finally, let’s hope this new product remains in the realm ofsatire. From The Onion: “New App Lets You Work For Your Company Even While Asleep“
What do youink of these news items? Any others to share? Let’s discuss in the comments section.
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