Labor & Employment Law

U.S. Companies Talk Family Values, But Deny Benefits

By James Parks

Fewer U.S. families have time for family dinners as workers put in longer hours on the job.

While the United States claims to support family values, the reality is that the American workplace is not family-friendly. The challenge is to move from the best practices of a few companies to decent working conditions for all, says author and scholar Jody Heymann.

Writing at Huffington Post, Heymann points out that providing good working conditions has clear advantages. For example, 

working lengthy hours without leave has been shown to lead to declining productivity per hour. In contrast, providing parental leave improves the next generation’s health and education outcomes and workers’ outcomes, health status, and loyalty to employers.

Now that health care reform is law, government and business leaders should work next on providing a paid leave policy, Heymann says. Congress is considering legislation to guarantee workers seven paid sick days.

The seven days of paid sick leave it would provide is readily affordable; 98 countries guarantee six months or more if necessary. While American business and government leaders working together to guarantee seven paid sick days would be one small step for humankind, it would be a giant leap for the United States.

Click here to read the full post, “If Companies Really Mean Business.”

Full post as published by AFL-CIO NOW BLOG on May 11, 2010 (boomark / email).