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At the end of this chapter, learners should be able to:

• Discuss the origin of family-friendly policies.

• Explain the different types of family-friendly policies.

• Explain the importance of family-friendly policies.

• Explore the financial implications of family-friendly policies.

• Understand how to calculate leave payment.

• Explain possible limitations of family-friendly policies.

Discuss the origin of family-friendly policies.

Explain the different types of family-friendly policies.

Explain the importance of family-friendly policies.

Explore the financial implications of family-friendly policies.

Understand how to calculate leave payment.

Explain possible limitations of family-friendly policies.

With higher female labor force participation and the greater prevalence of dual-career families, family responsibilities ever more overlap work responsibilities. Companies have begun to respond to the changing nature of the workforce by offering family-friendly policies that are intended to help employees manage family responsibilities while remaining productive workers. Examples of family-friendly policies include child and dependent care, flexible leave polices, and time off for family emergencies (Daley, 1998; Folsom & Botsch, 1993; Greenfield, 1997; Ezra & Deckman, 1996). Some benefits frequently offered by employers are not considered family-friendly policies because they are not primarily directed toward the management of family responsibilities. Examples of those benefits are educational assistance for the employee, mortgage assistance, holidays, and employee wellness programs.

The domestic division of labor and responsibilities for childcare continue to influence the circumstances under which women are brought into formal employment as work represents a key component of human life. However, given the common perception of appropriate roles for women, the demands for combining motherhood and marriage with paid employment become immense challenges for working mothers. To this end, this study examined family roles and official responsibilities among working mothers in some selected work organizations in Lagos, Nigeria. The sample of the study consisted of 106 married working mothers selected purposively from work organizations in Lagos metropolis. Questionnaire was designed to generate data while direct interview was conducted as a means of complimenting data derived from the main instrument. The data obtained were analyzed by the use of simple percentages; while chi-squared statistical tool was used to test hypotheses formulated for the study at 0.05 level of significance. The result showed that there is no significant relationship between childcare responsibilities and promotion; and that family support for female work has significant relationship with perceived home–work conflict among working mothers. Based on the findings, it was recommended that government, private employers and policy-makers should endeavors to make the nature of work more conducive for working mothers in order to easily combine the two domains of work and family.

A number of studies show that women are underrepresented in positions of power and authority in the labour markets of Western societies. Comparative studies within this field are few, and based on data from the 1980s, showing larger gender differences in workplace authority in the Scandinavian countries than in English-speaking countries (especially the U.S.). In this paper we use data from the International Social Survey Programme 1997 to describe and compare the gender gap in managerial positions within the labour markets in the U.S. and Norway. We include a perspective on differences in managerial and national cultures in order to interpret our findings. The American society has been characterized as individualistic and contract-based with a strong market orientation and work ethics. Compared with this, the Norwegian culture is less individualistic and less market oriented, and more inclined to emphasize a norm about a balanced life between work, family and leisure. These cultural differences may help us understand why the gender policy in these countries historically have had divergent foci: The Americans have implemented a powerful policy of equal opportunities within the labour market, regarding family issues as private matters. The Norwegians have a long-term political goal of gender equality in all areas of the society, comprising work-family linkages with a strong emphasis on arrangements allowing family members (in particular women) to combine work and family life. However, it seems fair to say that Norway has been less successful in implementing a powerful policy of equal opportunities within the labour market, in particular within the private sector. The paper discusses some possible implications of the differences between the U.S. and Norway, with regard to women’s access to managerial power positions.

After summarizing what has been learned so far, the purpose of this review is to suggest several promising avenues for future research on work-to-family enrichment (WFE) and family-to-work enrichment (FWE).

This is a literature review. After reviewing the existing research and searching for gaps in the literature, new areas of research will be proposed to fill these gaps.

While much has been learned about the antecedents and consequences of work–family enrichment in both directions, WFE and FWE, much remains to be learned.

Three important outcomes – job performance, organizational citizenship behavior, and counterproductive work behavior – need to be studied regarding WFE and FWE. Although supervisor support has been studied, the field needs to incorporate leadership theories and models to understand this phenomenon. Additional predictors of work outcomes – including emotional intelligence, leadership, emotional labor, social support, gender, and cross-cultural variables – need to be examined. Experience sampling methods and advanced research methodologies should also be used.

Although prior research has demonstrated the important effects of WFE and FWE, the practical effects on organizations in terms of job performance still need to be investigated.

The literature review conclusively demonstrates that WFE and FWE are both related to job satisfaction and family satisfaction.

This is the first review to summarize the existing meta-analytical research in this area and to propose the particular avenues of research advocated in this article.

The need to care for families has been a command focus within the United States military for a number of years. Operations in Afghanistan and Iraq, and the resulting risk and family separation, have made the care of families and their satisfaction with military life enormously important due to their impact on retention, morale, and readiness. The US Army has taken a two-pronged approach to caring for families: (1) family friendly leadership; and (2) family friendly programs and policies. Like many other organisations, the Army has invested heavily in family friendly policies and programs, such as family support groups, affordable childcare, medical care, and systems so spouses can communicate during periods of separation. Over the last 15 years, the Army's focus on families has produced a much improved system of support, resulting in almost two-thirds of spouses rating the Army's family support as excellent or good during the war in Iraq.¹ (Ricks, 2004, p. 9) While family friendly policies and programs are important in reducing work–family conflict and developing commitment, they are only part of the solution, and are much more effective when combined with supportive leadership. By themselves, policies and programs offer an incomplete solution that would achieve only partial success at best, particularly as the level of demands made by the organisation increase.

With the rise in the number of women faculty since the 1970s, the traditional academic model of an exclusive devotion to work has been increasingly contested. Broad changes have occurred in academic culture and policies to make many universities more family-friendly. Recent research on graduate students points to a shift in attitudes about work/family management as well. Graduate students, both male and female, seem to balk at expectations for a sole devotion to an academic career to the exclusion of family life. We examine how faculty members carry out acts of resistance to this traditional model.

This article presents research from two separate but related qualitative studies for a combined sample of 74 faculty members with children.

Women and men faculty make professional and personal choices and engage in behaviors that, in essence, are acts of resistance against the dominant but perhaps “old” culture of academe.

Resistance to the ideal worker norm in academia has been largely overlooked in studies about faculty parents (particularly fathers) and work/family balance. We demonstrate how faculty members act as agents of social change in academia.

Using a critical librarianship framework, this chapter argues that library administrators ought to advocate for comprehensive family leave policies and support employees more fully as they return from maternity leave. Improved policies support and enhance working conditions for all employees. Drawing on a diverse body of literature to illustrate that the significant life transition of becoming a mother is a unique opportunity for the library profession to improve the professional experience of its employees. Finally, practical action steps for supervisors are provided so they can structure a support plan for mothers transitioning back to work.

The past few decades has seen the proliferation of “family-friendly” policies incorporated into the workplace to promote the recruitment and retention of women for whom time to take care of families and elders has been primary. Despite the increase of women in high-level professions, many organizations have cultures that still do not support work-life integration. We propose a paradigmatic shift from family-friendly policy development and solutions focused on compliance transactions – to what we call “strategic organizational development and transformational change.” We take the argument one step further and suggest three powerful organization intervention strategies to build the culture's capacity to accomplish the business strategy, while weaving work-life integration into the DNA of the 24/7 culture.

This chapter explores whether issues and policies for senior academic women scientists are similar or different from those of their junior counterparts.

Both statistical comparisons and qualitative analyses of responses of 175 respondents, who were National Science Foundation (NSF) Professional Opportunities for Women in Research and Education (POWRE) awardees in 1997–2000, to a 2012 e-mail questionnaire provide the basis for the comparison.

Most respondents agree that the issues faced by junior and senior women differ significantly. Although considerable consensus appears to exist about issues that junior women face and institutional policies to help alleviate those issues, few respondents have ideas about how to improve the situation for senior STEM academic women scientists.

Just as a loss in the percentage of women in the STEM workforce occurs at each higher level on the career ladder, women in the academic STEM professoriate also decrease at higher ranks. Many educational institutions have adopted policies and practices such as parental leave and stop the tenure clock, heralded as significant for attracting and retaining women in academic science, particularly at the junior level. Recognizing the issues facing senior women scientists and addressing them with appropriate policies and practices decreases the risks of undercutting the productivity and professional contributions of these women at the peak of their career.