Parents Got More Time Off. Then the Backlash Started.

The New York Times ^ | 05 Sept 2020 | Daisuke Wakabayashi and Sheera Frenkel

[Alberta's Child]

This is the NYT reporting this.

Don't look at this in the context of a "free market" vs. "government coercion" comparison.

There are many states that MANDATE "paid family leave" for all employers. And there's a growing political movement in Washington to make it a national entitlement.

I'm surprised the NYT reported this ... because the narrative they present here is what convinces me that this kind of nonsense never works.

[Trailerpark Badass]

Yeah, the usual suspects, usually.

[Trailerpark Badass]

Of course, I didn’t read the article. Having principles makes that superfluous. Again, don’t like your employer’s rules, leave.

[Alberta's Child]

In my experience, employees with young children -- especially women (for some obvious and some not-so-obvious reasons) -- were universally the least productive people in every work environment.

Interestingly, this pattern seemed limited almost entirely to American-born employees. For immigrants with young children, I have noticed that it's almost the exact opposite.

[Alberta's Child]

Again, don’t like your employer’s rules, leave.

I did. Now I am the employer. LOL.

[NobleFree]

Facebook and Salesforce seem to see it differently; it’s their right to act on their evaluation.

[AnotherUnixGeek]

As companies wrestle with how best to support staff during the pandemic, some employees without children say that they feel underappreciated, and that they are being asked to shoulder a heavier workload.

That's because they are - every regular employee who takes time off means more work for the other regular employees. If parents are given additional time off, employees without kids should be given exactly the same amount of time off.

[9YearLurker]

If them’s the rules, them’s the rules.

But a) they ain’t the rules and b) they are obnoxious rules that per these examples backfire with righteous resentment from your other employees.

[NobleFree]

“A question that we might ask the employees who are feeling some frustration about their co-workers being on leave is what do you think is going to happen if that person quits?” she said. “You’re going to actually be stretched further.”

[Trailerpark Badass]

Right on. When I was an employer, my only concern was making sure they showed up for their shifts and not stealing my booze. I wouldn’t presume to tell other employers how to get what they want from their workers.

[Gene Eric]

Parents raise and pay for tomorrow’s tax payers — that simple fact is lost on too many

[Trailerpark Badass]

Then they have a breach of contract remedy. And (b), that problem is self-correcting.

[meyer]

Compensation, including wages and benefits (including paid leave) should be based on your accomplishments at work, not your spawning practices at home.

[9YearLurker]

Your argument is the kind of crap that had minorities and women paid less for equal work for decades.

Go crawl back under your rock.

[dfwgator]

We should be encouraging families, we declared War on the Family over 50 years ago, and the results have been disastrous.

[Trailerpark Badass]

Lol, “EXACTLY!!” sez who?

[9YearLurker]

IIRC there’s been research showing single manager and up women putting in the most hours and married with kids manager and up women the least.

[Gene Eric]

Agreed

[Alberta's Child]

We'll see how it works out.

One of the interesting things about the article is that these measures were adopted without a lot of preparation -- simply because there wasn't any time to prepare.

The whole point of the article is that these companies don't even know if the paid leave policies -- along with the other changes that are driving this resentment (like not measuring employee performance during the COVID-19 disruptions) are going to work in the long run.

[JudgemAll]

Basically the feminine workplace nowadays is divided between prostututes and mothers... prostitutes are terrified by mothers