There are still a lot of workaholics out there who take on whatever work they have to do and more, but there as many others who insist that work strike a balance with family. This is not only mothers, but also fathers, middle-aged people with aging parents, and even young couples without children who want to balance their careers with their time together. Much is made of the changing characteristics of the American family. Both parents work in 60 percent of two-parent families, and the number of single-parent families has reached an all-time high.

While the influx of women into the workforce over the past two decades spurred many of the changes around company expectations and practices, it's important for managers to recognize that it's not only women who have child-care responsibilities. Many men share parenting activities. Their wives might also have full-time careers; they could be divorced dads sharing custody; or they might be single dads with sole parenting responsibility. Fathers need the same opportunities to take time off for sick kids and school activities as mothers do.

It's not uncommon for dads to choose to stay at home with the kids. Shirley, a vice president at a large corporation, and her husband Paul made this decision when their children became teenagers. They realized their kids needed a parent at home and available for the many school and afterschool activities they participated in. Shirley had made sacrifices for Paul's career, including moving to their current location. Then she had a great job opportunity. So they decided that it was his turn to stay at home and her turn to be the breadwinner.

Legislation to Protect Families

When Bill Clinton became the forty-second president of the United States, his first official act was to sign the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) of 1993. The FMLA allows people to take unpaid time off from work — up to twelve weeks if necessary — to care for a newborn or newly adopted child, a seriously ill family member, or because of their own medical conditions, without losing their jobs. The FMLA does not apply to everyone who works, however. To find out if it covers you, talk with your company's HR department or contact the U.S. Department of Labor (see Appendix B for contact information).

Family-Friendly Workplace Policies

Changes in our society, changes in the workplace, and changes in the laws regulating workplace behavior have combined to create work situations for many Americans that are more family-friendly than ever. Companies offer various benefits to support working parents, from child-care referral services to on-site day care, day-care subsidies, and emergency child-care arrangements.

Companies realize that the stress of caring for family members affects employee productivity. They also recognize that they can't pretend these problems don't exist in the lives of all employees, from top executives on down. As employers expect more from employees, they understand that they have to give more in return as well.

Many companies have opened “Bring Your Daughter to Work Day” — originally an effort to encourage mothers to share their professions with their daughters — to include all parents and children. Many organizations, public and private, provide some sort of open house or similar opportunity for employees to share their jobs with their families.

Another area of growing involvement for companies is in addressing the needs of employees who are caring for aging and ailing parents. Companies that offer EAP benefits often include counseling and assistance with decisions about health care and long-term care for elder parents, as well as time off from work to handle these decisions. An increasing number of companies are also offering employees the opportunity to purchase long-term care insurance as an employment benefit, just as they might buy life or disability income insurance.