Work and family:

A tightrope walk

Striking a balance between work and family can seem the tallest of orders. If your employer is unreasonable or inflexible, chances are you’re in turmoil, torn between family obligations and your job.

If your employer understands that you sometimes have to deal with pressing family needs during work hours, you’re more likely to concentrate on your job once you’ve solved your family problem.

Amazingly, most workers - men and women - manage to juggle everything after a fashion. Nowadays it is a little easier as many companies have become more flexible. Work and family is not just about childcare.

Finding time to care for partners, elderly parents and relatives with a disability are also big considerations.

In families where the sole parent or both parents work, men and women have to share taking time off work because of family responsibilities. Men are just as likely to take time off to care for an elderly relative. Family-friendly policies don’t just benefit workers - companies also reap enormous rewards.

Benefits include improved productivity and staff morale, lower recruitment costs, and more flexible rostering. There’s less absenteeism if emploers pay attention to family-friendly policies so workers can take one or two hours to take their elderly parent to the doctor, instead of having to take a whole day off. But this should not be abused.

For employees, the benefits are less stress and guilt, and more freedom to deal with family issues.

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