I have had a unique exposure to what work-life balance can be. My father passed away when I was young, so my mom has been our sole caregiver for the majority of my life. She has worked for the same telecommunications company for her entire adult life. When we were hit with our tragedy back in 2002, they allowed her to work from home full time. It was really the best option for her – it gave her the flexibility to be there for us if we needed her, and she was able to keep working and provide for us. Growing up, I knew she worked a lot. But I also knew it was a necessity for us. She always wanted us to live the lifestyle we would have lived, had my dad been around. So she worked harder and pushed herself to work longer hours, and to go the extra mile so she could get the best bonuses.
In recent years I have paid more attention to the hours she works and how she makes time for her friends and family. Now that my brother and I are both in college, I hear of her making more trips to go see her friends. And after years of being a single mom, I’m starting to hear about her being set up on blind dates. While she misses having my brother and I at home, I am happy to see her have the chance to have more of a social life. She tells me that for fifteen years, her only priorities were my brother and me, and her job. I never knew of her having hobbies outside of her family or her job. But, we did get to go on plenty of vacations as a family and we did a lot of things together. Obviously I hope that I will not be forced to be my family’s sole caregiver like my mother was, but despite her not choosing this situation, I admire her for how she has risen to the challenge. No matter what ends up happening in my life, I hope that I can perform as well as she has at her job, while being an amazing parent.
There is a lot that companies can do to promote a healthy work-life balance. The United States is not known for having the best maternity or paternity leave policies. By the Family and Medical Leave Act of 1993, companies are required to give 12 weeks of unpaid maternity leave to new mothers. Numerous other countries give as many as 18 weeks of paid leave. There are also more opportunities for fathers to take paternity leave. And some companies do go that extra mile and give more leave than the required amount. But most companies only give the bare minimum. And, when it comes time for parents to come back to work full time, they may struggle to make the adjustment. They may come back part time, which may cause them to fall behind at work. Having more of a support system from employers would really help new parents to stay engaged and motivated at work.
I have heard information about vacation time from two of the companies I am considering for full time hire next year. One of them starts off with 2 weeks of vacation, which I have heard is pretty standard. Then, while doing an interview last week, one of the interviewers mentioned that as a new hire, he received 5 weeks of vacation time, that they encouraged their employees to take advantage of. I think my jaw dropped in the middle of the interview. I had never considered asking for more vacation time as a negotiating point, but I might consider asking for more from the other company. I really liked that the company that offered 5 weeks encouraged their employees to take advantage of this vacation time and to have hobbies outside of work. This would be nice to use for traveling while I’m young. And looking into the future, it would be great to have that level of flexibility once I have kids. I hope more companies take initiatives like this to make working for them more enticing.