MGT 3210 DB 10

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Case 10: Employers Take Steps to Help with Work-Life Balance and Everyone Is Happy (?)

Even in the best of times, balancing work and family is a difficult challenge for many employees. Then came the pandemic and added responsibilities from daycare centers closing and schools closing or having students learn remotely from home. A number of companies took steps to help. For example, Facebook provided up to 10 weeks paid time off for employees whose school or daycare closed or who had an older relative whose skilled nursing facility was closed. Google and Microsoft took similar steps. Facebook also announced that for the first half of the year, it would not do employee performance evaluations. Every employee would get the bonus given to very good performers. Everyone was happy, right? Wrong. A number of employees were unhappy that everyone would receive a high bonus because they felt some had not earned it. At a company videoconference, over 2,000 employees asked Facebook what it could do to support nonparents too. An employee wrote it was unfair that nonparents could not also get 10 weeks paid leave. A Facebook parent responded that the question was “harmful” and questioned whether leave to care for a child or elder was really a break as implied. One response by Facebook was to authorize any employee to take up to three days to cope with physical or mental health issues without a note from a doctor. Facebook also noted that it continued to provide unlimited sick days and at least 21 vacation days (over 4 weeks) per year. One observer noted that paid leave for parents might be more important to nonparents than they realize. That is because when a coworker quits, someone will have to cover that work for some amount of time. In other words, it may be that if your co-worker parent is stretched too thin and there is not paid leave to help with that, that co-worker may leave and then you or one of your co-workers will be stretched too thin. Also, as caring for children still tends to fall disproportionally on women, the absence of parental leave would perhaps move women backward in their quest to have equal opportunity, including advancement to the highest levels.

Of course, the difference in views between parents and (some) nonparents is not new. An article from 1996 cited a study by the Conference Board where 47% of respondents said parents received more support from their companies than nonparents. Even more striking, a Personnel Journal survey found that 80% responded “no” to the question, “Do single employees receive as much attention to their needs as married-with-children?” and 81% responded “yes” to the question, “Do single employees end up carrying more of the burden than married employees

Some things stay the same, other things change. Back in 2007, a young entrepreneur named Mark Zuckerberg stated, “We may not own a car. We may not have a family. Simplicity in life allows us to focus on what’s important.” By 2021, however, the founder and chief executive of Facebook was married with two children and his view on family-friendly benefits had perhaps evolved.

1. What is/are the problem/s?
2. What are the underlying causes behind the problem/s? (What causes can you identify? Are they driven by personal, organizational and/or societal forces?)
3. What solutions do you propose? (Can you make everyone happy? What can you do? At what cost?)