Government Lies
November 26th, 2007 by Cali & Jody
Great post over at MomsRising about one of those little annoying quirks of the workplace that doesn’t seem so little when you think about it more deeply.
We’re talking about the white lies working women tell when they are late because of their kids. Most would rather blame bad traffic than a stubborn toddler for fear of not looking dedicated to their job. The author, PunditMom, has the diagnosis right, but we stopped nodding our heads when we got to the last sentence:
“And is it time for the government to step in to make sure no parent gets penalized for caring for their family?”
It’s not up to the government. It’s true that government regulations are going to have to change to address our mobile, global, wired society. But a government mandate that attempts to create an open and honest workplace that doesn’t penalize women (or men) with families is wishful thinking.
The reason is that no federal law can change the culture of the workplace. As we saw in our last post, the law allows people to take leave under the FMLA. But the unwritten rules of the workplace (in other words, work culture) say you better be careful about taking advantage of that law or you might hurt your career.
We’re all for good laws that protect and support families, but laws can only do so much. (The same is true about the policies in the employee handbook.) Real change is only going to happen if everyone agrees to a new set of assumptions about what work looks like. If we all change how we define work (something you do, not a place you go for a set period of time) then those laws will become more meaningful. If we change the culture of the workplace, then people can finally live honestly and freely.
And that’s no lie.
[...] Check it out! While looking through the blogosphere we stumbled on an interesting post today.Here’s a quick excerptIt’s not up to the government. It’s true that government regulations are going to have to change to address our mobile, global, wired society. But a government mandate that attempts to create an open and honest workplace that doesn’t … [...]
[...] Government Lies By Cali & Jody As we saw in our last post, the law allows people to take leave under the FMLA. But the unwritten rules of the workplace (in other words, work culture) say you better be careful about taking advantage of that law or you might hurt your … [...]
But I’m not sure how employers will go along with that idea until they’re required to …???