According to The Economist, dads face greater workplace penalties for taking parental leaves than do moms.
Americans see taking a break to care for children as a sign of lower commitment to work and even flakiness. … Whereas mothers who take time off to rear offspring face difficulties when returning to work, opt-out fathers may fare worse, says Scott Behson, author of a book called “The Working Dad’s Survival Guide: How to Succeed at Work and at Home”. America has a workaholic culture, he says. Mothers who put their families first eschew that culture, resulting in costs to their careers. But fathers who do so are violating both the workaholic culture and traditional gender norms.
Here’s the thing. Just because I enjoy being a dad does not make me flaky. It just means that I enjoy being a dad. We all make choices in our lives. I’ve chosen to eat dinner with my kids, attend their school conferences and events, haul gear to their concerts, and work the merch table for Norah’s band. Don’t get me wrong, I love being a lawyer. But, when I die, I’d much prefer my tombstone reads, “He was a great dad,” not, “He was a great lawyer.”
I’m a dad active in my kids’ lives. Yet, it doesn’t mean I’m any less dedicated to my job. It’s not an either/or proposition. You can be a good parent and a good employee. They are not mutually exclusive. So please don’t judge the quality of my work based on my commitment to my family. And please don’t call me flaky.
Here’s what I read this week:
- Reasonable Accommodations for Mental Illnesses — via HR Daily Advisor
- Businesses Show Overwhelming Support for Prohibiting Discrimination of LGBT Employees — via Michigan Employment Law Advisor
- Revisiting Agreements to Shorten the Time Period For Filing Employment Lawsuits — via Labor & Employment Law Navigator
- Labor and Employment Quick Takes: Tips for Employers on Dress and Grooming Policies — via Hunton Employment & Labor Law Perspectives™
- Accommodation Delayed is Not (Necessarily) Accommodation Denied — via Matrix Radar
- Rumor Has It … That Sexual Rumors May Be Sexual Harassment — via The Emplawyerologist Blog
- This Woman Was Charged $185,000 In Her Own Sexual Harassment Case — via HuffPost
- My preemptive strike for Eugene Scalia — via Robin Shea’s Employment & Labor Insider
HR & Employee Relations
- Can you fire someone solely for being racist? — via Ask a Manager
- Sandwiched !! — via SHRM Blog
- Drafting that Nondisparagement Clause — via Workplace Prof Blog
- ESPN Reminds Employees Of Craven No-Politics Policy In Wake Of Dan Le Batard’s Criticism Of The Network And Trump — via Deadspin
- The Increasing Importance of Trade Secrets and Trade Secret Asset Management Explained — via Trading Secrets
- Trade Secrets and Noncompetes – Music to My Ears: The Cease and Desist Letter — via Fair Competition Law
- How do you deal with workplace dabblers and kibitzers? — via Ragan.com
- Open Door Policies + Bathrooms: Yikes — via Evil Skippy at Work
Technology
- 🔥🚒👨🚒Firefighter fired for hostile social media posts may have been discriminated against🔥🚒👨🚒 — via Eric Meyer’s The Employer Handbook Blog
- 13 cops in this state will be fired because of offensive Facebook posts — via ABA Journal Daily News
- What You Should Know About the Equifax Data Breach Settlement — via Krebs on Security
- Cybersecurity knowledge gap not uniform across sectors — via HR Dive
- Answer These 9 Questions to Determine if Your Data Is Safe — via Dark Reading
- Mobile Malware Attacks On The Rise — via Cleveland Law Library Weblog
Wage & Hour
- Can My Employer Change Me from Hourly to Salary? — via Suzanne Lucas, Evil HR Lady
- Wage Disputes Among Campaign Staff Plague Sen. Sanders’ Presidential Bid — via LaborPains.org
- Wage and Hour Division issues opinion letter on truck drivers — via CUE, Inc.
- Newest Wage and Hour Opinion Letter Addresses Sleeping, Waiting, and Travel Time Principles — via Wage and Hour Defense Blog
Labor
- What Unions Can Do To Help Immigrant Members — via Donna Ballman’s Screw You Guys, I’m Going Home
- “Keep unions out of grad school” — via Walter Olson’s Overlawyered
- NLRA Does Not Protect Employee’s Wrongful Access Of Confidential Data — via The Employment Brief
OSHA & Safety
- One State Guides Employers To Establish Workplace Mental Health Standards — via FisherBroyles
- Employer or employee: Who’s to blame for OSHA violations? — via Construction Dive