Work Life Policy: Pipedream or Practical?

In a tony Connecticut suburb, at the home of work life expert Chrysula Winegar of WLBConsultants.com, the mom of four wrangles with a kitchen full of her tiny tots all under the age of six years old. Enter, Judy Martin with a rolling camera from WorkLife Nation, and you’ve got a hysterical scene of joy and colliding interests as Ms. Winegar lovingly holds a toddler, feeds an infant and helps her eldest with her homework.

What you don’t see is what happens after the little ones are put to bed when this supermom, who works from home, hits her blog, posts on Twitter, LinkedIn, Facebook and delivers her views on work life policy in America. This scene is not unusual. It’s played every day throughout America and the world. But the way working moms are treated in the workplace and in business differ greatly from country to country.

Ms. Winegar knows this first hand as she has had the unique opportunity of witnessing work life culture from across the globe. She dishes on her thoughts on legislation, the Family Medical Leave Act (FMLA), the vagaries of enforcement and even the daddy issue – the pipedream of paternity leave on a regular basis as you’ll watch in this week’s WorkLife Nation episode.

The profile this week is inspired by BlogHer’s New York City conference. Ms. Winegar is heading to the event this week with an eye toward work life issues because this year BlogHer has taken the topic of work life balance under its wings, presenting a number of related workshops and sessions. If you’re headed to this incredible event, check out Saturday’s panel being headed up by Morra Alons-Mele, CEO of Women Online and blogs at WomenandWork.org, and Stephanie Wilchfort who blogs at TheMamaBee.com:

Change Agents: ROYO – Screw Work/Life Balance, We Need Work/Life Policy

For an incredibly well written run down of where Work Life policy stands in America, Morra Alons- Mele post on Huffington Post will catch you up to speed. In addition, BlogHer has also partnered with The White House Project to” to co-produce a new, half-day workshop designed to help women bloggers with political and public policy interests, take their leadership one step further and become aspiring public servants.”

Finally, to read up on work life policy check out the bloggers who are listed after this week’s WorkLife Nation video. And please share, what do you think about legislating Work Life Policy in the United States? What will big business think if we take things a step further and what thought process will govern the limits on what companies, big and small can handle in a tumultuous economy? For now take a listen to what Chrysula has to say.

PunditMom
Leanne Chase
Cali Yost
Ellen Galinsky
Lisa Belkin
Katherine Lewis
The Fence
Families and Work Institute
The Sloan Work and Family Research Network
The Center for Work Life Policy
Work Life Law at Hastings College
Workplace Flexibility 2010
The Glass Hammer
Alliance for Work-Life Progress

Jim Cuzner

Hi Judy, I watched the video and agree that the first few weeks of a childs life is a bonding process with the mother and father. The great problem is what the business core values are with paid leave in opposition to the mothers need to ask for time off. I know in my time that big strides have been made between business need to retain excellent employees and provide flexibility for working mothers. I am sure that if families come from other countries and apply to become Americans they may feel our laws are lacking in the support needed for their employees. Perhaps the laws and business need to review and upgrade where necessary. However, it seems that business will bend so far on what they will provide in support to family regarding paid leave. Beyond that I thibk that new or existing mothers are going to have to way all of their options and make the best decision for themselves and their jobs.

http://www.judymartinspeaks.com Judy Martin

Hi Jim,
Thanks for your thoughts. I think that business needs to bend at the same time that we focus on the legislative process. It’s a push me pull me game. Ultimately, big business needs to stay competitive, and to do that holding onto skilled employees is crucial. With women now at more than 50 percent of the job market, I can’t help but wonder if more bending might take place on the edge of business before legislation comes down the pike. It would be in the interest of all involved I think.

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