S/O: Women bosses supporting other women... Do I owe it to feminism to offer work-at-home option?

[Anonymous]

In my office, we are all pretty flexible about allowing working from home for sick kid, cable guy, home renovations, etc. However, no one has a standing work-from-home arrangement 1-2 days a week, although many people would probably take advantage if it were offered. Recently a very junior person (only here about 6 months; in a fairly junior, support role) requested a 1-2/day week telework arrangement after she returns from maternity leave. The boss said no, based on the fact that no one else has this arrangement-- but many people would probably want it and it would not be fair. This is not a big facetime kind of job, but it is a tight-knit office and no one would argue that the office dynamic would be the same if everyone started working at home (see Yahoo banning telework). Although to be fair, this person probably *could* do her job from home a few days/ week, but people generally expect people in this junior role to be around.

Do you think this is contrary to feminist principles not to allow a permanent 1-2 day/wk work at home arrangement for this employee? I have no dog in the fight, just an observer. However, part of me does think that this employee has not "paid her dues" to be entitled to this kind of benefit.

[Anonymous]

Sorry, I realized the title was unclear. I have no dog in the fight but I was curious about what I would do if I were the boss.

[Anonymous]

Kudos to the person for asking, worst that can happen is the boss says no.

However, before it's allowed for her, I'd probably think long and hard about developing a telework policy since if you allow it for one, more will likely ask. It will be much easier to implement, either permitting or no, if you have it clearly spelled out.

It's about more than just feminism, so I wouldn't do it simply because you owe it to a random philosophy.

[Anonymous]

I'd probably refuse too, or at least insist on knowing the requester's child-care arrangements during the day she was working from home. I'd expect there to be a full-time caregiver.

[Anonymous]

I think if telecommuting is allowed, it is important that it be allowed to all for whom it is feasible. Making it available only to moms breeds resentment. I think it is a very strong perk when recruiting and retaining staff.

[Anonymous]

I think it either needs to be available to all or to none. I had asked for a similar arrangement coming back from maternity leave (my firm allowed it, subject to individual partners' discretion). My boss said no and I sucked it up as long as I could, til I found a job closer to home. As soon as I left (a shock to my boss and colleagues at the time), telework arrangements were immediately offered to my remaining colleagues who were parents.

[Anonymous]

I don't think this is a question of feminism, or only in a tangential way. Reasonable telework policies can benefit everyone and shouldn't be limited to those with kids. I've had staff use telework to deal with new pets, a long-distance marriage, and just cause they work better at home sometimes. But I do think that there should be clear rules on who can use them and how often. I have seen both the good and bad -- all from guys without kids BTW.

I think employees should have some decent time in the office under their belt before allowed too much telework. 6 mo to a year would be my minimum to allow for the supervisors to get a good feel of how it would work.

Availability during the time at home is key. We have VPN and an internal IM system and those who telework works well with are on (I can see them on the IM) most of the day, and answer IMs/emails/phone calls promptly. When it hasn't worked, you don't know where they are or what they are doing.

The downside to telework is unit cohesion. It is important to address this and make sure the telework isn't a cause. Reassess after some time to see if things are working well.

With kids, the one difference is that for regular telework (not just the home with sick kid kind), childcare arrangements are important and should be discussed.

[Anonymous]

OP here. To be clear, we are talking about the regular 1-2/wk kind of telework NOT the sporadic, sick kid kind, which is totally fine in our office.

[Anonymous]

I'm confused how this has to do with feminism. Unless new male hires are allowed to telework but your boss doesn't want a new female hire to telework because he thinks she'll be too distracted by the baby and won't work? It just sounds like an issue of a new hire has to earn the right to telework 1-2 times a week.

[Anonymous]

I think that if you want to be supportive to PARENTS (not just moms) you definitely need to offer the flexibility to work from home as needed, for a sick kid, child care falling through, etc. I don't think you need to offer permanent telework -- the flexibility to WFM as needed is more important.

I also think that there are things you can do to help new moms transition back to work successfully. This could include part-time for several weeks, and a few days of regularly scheduled telework for the first few months.

But permanent telework 1/2x week would be a nice perk for everyone, and probably help balance work-life stuff for all. It is a nice perk, as long as it doesn't affect productivity. I think you need to research how to do it in a way that keeps productivity up and doesn't disrupt the office. Don't just do it willy-nilly then declare it a failure.

[Anonymous]

Haven't read all the responses but I know from my experience in a small office, we have a policy of no standing telework arrangements because the company runs better when all are present for collaboration and so on. That's what my boss said when I joined, anyway.

I don't think it's a feminist thing though, in spite of being a woman and a mom to a young tot myself. Actually for me it's a getting a break from a crappy commute thing - and I'd go for a telework one day a week (or one day every other week!) in a heartbeat. My husband would probably work from home one day a week too if it was available. And we'd still have childcare I'm sure, so that we could actually get work done, so it isn't really even about being a parent.

[Anonymous]

Maybe for one month, but not indefinitely.
We all know how much work one does with an infant at home. Maybe she should just ask for 4 day weeks, not the work from home bit.

[Anonymous]

For many office jobs, it's just old fashioned to not allow regular telework. Make the expectations clear, including f-t child are as applicable & have the ability to rescind for abuses. I work at home 3 days a week & my baby goes to daycare those days just like office days except he doesn't have to be there for my commuting time (daycare is a mile from home).

[Anonymous]

My office requires a signed telework agreement for any regular telework arrangement that clearly spells out that you must have child care arrangements in place to work at home. You also have to specify that you have the space and equipment (Internet, computer, phone, etc. required to do your job), what hours you will be available and how you can be contacted. Any new agreement has a 2 month trial period and is then subject to periodic review. It is an option available to all employees who have positions that are amenable to teleworking. My baby goes to daycare on my telework day, just like any other day, but I save 45 minutes in commuting each way.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My office requires a signed telework agreement for any regular telework arrangement that clearly spells out that you must have child care arrangements in place to work at home. You also have to specify that you have the space and equipment (Internet, computer, phone, etc. required to do your job), what hours you will be available and how you can be contacted. Any new agreement has a 2 month trial period and is then subject to periodic review. It is an option available to all employees who have positions that are amenable to teleworking. My baby goes to daycare on my telework day, just like any other day, but I save 45 minutes in commuting each way.

Yes, this is how it is in my office. About half the people telework one to two days a week. Some of them have kids; some don't. I think most do it because of the long commute. My commute isn't terrible for this area -- about 40 minutes -- but I have thought about teleworking also, because I could get a lot of chores done in the 80 minutes not spent commuting. However, I just don't like teleworking that much, so I haven't signed up for it yet. In any event, I agree with PPs that (1) it's a flexibility thing, not a feminism thing (although arguably the more flexible the office, the more parents you will attract or retain) and (2) it should be available to all or to none. (Within reason -- a secretary or security officer probably can't telework routinely and still get their job done.)