Caregivers, Gender, and the Law: An Analysis of Family Responsibility Discrimination Case Outcomes

2020 ◽  
Vol 34 (5) ◽  
pp. 760-789
Author(s):  
C. Elizabeth Hirsh ◽  
Christina Treleaven ◽  
Sylvia Fuller

As workers struggle to combine work and family responsibilities, discrimination against workers based on their status as caregivers is on the rise. Although both women and men feel the pinch, caregiver discrimination is particularly damaging for women, because care is intricately tied to gendered norms and expectations. In this article, we analyze caregiver discrimination cases resolved by Canadian Human Rights Tribunals from 1985 through 2016, to explore how work and caregiving clash. We identify issues involved in disputes and the ways gendered expectations about work–life facilitation inform disputes and outcomes. We find that although women are more likely to bring claims and obtain favorable outcomes, the legal interpretation of claims is highly gendered. Women bring claims involving both their presumed status as caregivers and the practical challenges of seeking accommodations for care, whereas men’s claims are largely accommodation based. In adjudicating cases, Tribunals are more likely to see women than men as lacking credibility when making their claims, questioning their competence and legitimacy. In contrast, men struggle to demonstrate the legal basis of work–family interference, failing to convey how seriously work interferes with family responsibilities.

2017 ◽  
Vol 31 (3) ◽  
pp. 288-305 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jeffrey A. Graham ◽  
Marlene A. Dixon

Work–family balance in sport has until this point largely been characterized as an issue for women. Current societal trends, however, suggest that men also struggle with balancing work and family responsibilities. Using theoretical frameworks from both conflict and enrichment, this study examined the ways that fathers who are coaches experience and manage the work–life interface. Twenty-four men who are fathers and high school varsity head coaches were interviewed for this study. The respondents discussed the day-to-day challenges and coping strategies they utilized to manage their work–life interface. Ultimately, five themes emerged from the data, including (a) coaching as more than an occupation, (b) experiences of conflict and strain, (c) coping strategies, (d) nonutilization of organizational supports, and (e) experiences of enrichment. These findings suggest that, indeed, men struggle with balancing competing role demands. However, the findings also suggest that men are utilizing diverse and creative approaches for managing their fathering and coaching roles, resulting in meaningful experiences of enrichment stemming from both coaching and fathering.


Sociology ◽  
2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Misun Lim ◽  
Joya Misra

There are many different ways to define work–life balance. Some scholars emphasize that work–life balance requires balancing demands of both paid work and family responsibilities or maximizing satisfaction by minimizing conflict between paid work and family responsibilities. Others view work–life balance as encompassing the way that boundaries blur between work, family, and leisure time. In attempting to address work–life balance, workers are generally trying to preserve both quality of life, and potential for career advancements, while employers are trying to preserve high productivity and reduce worker turnover. Although the term “work–life balance” is widely used, alternative terms are also employed, such as work–family balance, work–life integration, work–life harmonization, or work–life articulation. Research on attempts to manage paid work along with family and other parts of life has been carried out for decades. Yet this scholarship has exploded in the last two decades, particularly as middle-class women have increased their workforce participation, but also work is being carried out during nonstandard hours, technology is creating more permeability between work and home, and union protections have been weakened. Work–life balance efforts may lead to poor-quality jobs in terms of earnings, job security, working time and promotion opportunities, rather than long-term quality employment over the life course that allows for leisure and family time. Research on work–life balance should take structural, rather than individual approaches, to consider workplace cultures, including by occupation and gender inequality, and recognize the different assumptions underlying policies aimed at addressing work–life balance.


2019 ◽  
Vol 34 (2) ◽  
pp. 51-74
Author(s):  
Kim Hwayeon ◽  
Nam Taewoo

The number of female employees in the Korean workforce has risen. However, the Korean corporate climate, characterized by collectivism, hierarchism, and senior and masculine privilege, leads them to experience worklife conflict and even halt their careers. This climate stems from a social and organizational culture deeply rooted in traditional Confucianism. In Korea, where housework and childcare have long been considered the province of women, female employees find it more difficult to balance office work and family life. The Korean corporate climate welcomes overtime work, and women who work outside the home must juggle this and family responsibilities. We conceptualize behavior such as acquiescing to overtime work as submissive loyalty and elucidate work-family conflict and decreasing job and life satisfaction as consequences thereof. The analysis, based on a structural equation model, revealed that submissive loyalty increases work-family conflict, which decreases job and life satisfaction.


2019 ◽  
Vol 1 (2) ◽  
pp. 474
Author(s):  
Elisabet . ◽  
Cut Memi

One of the authorities of the Constitutional Court governed by the Constitution of the Republic of Indonesia in 1945 was the examining of laws against the contitution or judicial review. Inside the regulations which governing the implementation of this authority, the Constitutional Court only acts as a negative legislator, namely canceling or reinforcing a norm tested by the Petitioner. But in practice, the Constitutional Court has changed its role to become a positive legislator, who is forming a new legal norm, which is the authority of legislators. The Constitutional Court should not be able to form a new legal norm because there is no legal basis which regulate that. But Constitutional Court can form a new legal norm in some urgent circumstances, relating to Human Rights, and preventing legal vacuum. In addition, the establishment of laws by lawmakers that require a long process and time. This is compelling Constitutional Court to make substitute norm before the law was established by the legislators. In the Decision of the Constitutional Court Number 46/PUU-XVI/2016, the Court actually wants to establish a new legal norm, but because the articles in the petitioned have criminal sanctions, and if the Constitutional Court approves the petition, the Constitutional Court has formulated a new criminal act that can only be formed by the lawmaker. Whereas in the Decision of the Constitutional Court Number 21/PUU-XII/2014, the Constitutional Court established a new norm because in the article a quo there were no criminal sanctions.


2018 ◽  
Vol 40 (5) ◽  
pp. 903-920 ◽  
Author(s):  
Laura Maria Ferri ◽  
Matteo Pedrini ◽  
Egidio Riva

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to explore whether and how the actual use of supports available from the state, organisations and families helps workers reduce perceived work–family conflict (WFC), explored from both works interfering with family (WIF) and family interfering with work (FIW) perspectives. Design/methodology/approach The study is based on a survey of 2,029 employees at six large Italian firms. To test hypotheses, a hierarchical regression analysis was performed. Findings WFC should be explored considering its bi-directionality, as supports have different impacts on WIF and FIW. Workplace instrumental support elicits mixed effects on WFC, whereas workplace emotional support and familiar support reduce both FIW and WIF. Research limitations/implications The study is limited to the Italian national context, and data were collected in a single moment of time, which did not allow for observing changes in employees’ lives. Practical implications Human resource managers, as well as policy makers, will find this study’s results useful in designing effective work–life balance policies and supports, in which attention is devoted mainly to promoting workplace emotional supports and facilitating familiar support. Social implications The study highlights that by reducing pressures from work and family responsibilities that generate WFC conditions, organisational and familiar supports elicit different effects, which should be considered carefully when defining policies and interventions. Originality/value This study is one of the few that compare the role of supports provided by actors in different sectors on FIW and WIF, thereby allowing for an understanding of whether the bi-directionality of the conflicts is a relevant perspective.


2020 ◽  
Vol 29 (2) ◽  
pp. 207-216
Author(s):  
Kimberly A. French ◽  
Kristen M. Shockley

Many working adults manage joint work and family responsibilities and turn to supports offered at work and in the home to help manage these roles successfully. We review the current evidence on supports for improving work–life outcomes, including informal support from people at work and at home as well as formal organizational and national policies. Informal support is consistently moderately associated with better work–family experiences. Despite popular emphasis on formal policies, evidence for their effectiveness is relatively weak. We propose an agentic perspective to drive future understanding of how and when supports may be used to improve work–family management.


Pravaha ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 24 (1) ◽  
pp. 217-232
Author(s):  
Tej Narayan Prasad Nepali

Work- family balance” is a term that refers to an individual’s perceptions of the degree to which s/he is experiencing positive relationships between work and family roles, where the relationships are viewed as compatible and at equilibrium with each other. Like a fulcrum measuring the daily shifting weights of time and energy allocation between work and family life, the term, “workfamily balance,” provides a metaphor to countervail the historical notion that work and family relationships can often be competing, at odds, and conflicting.There was a time when the boundaries between work and home were fairly clear. Today, however, work is likely to invade our personal life — and maintaining work-life balance is no simple task. Family work balance is a complex issue that involves financial values, gender roles, career path, time management and many other factors. Every person and couple will have their own preferences and needs. The problem of maintaining a balance between work life and family life is not a new one. But in the recent few years social scientists have started paying more attention to it. Now there is growing concern in Nepal and experts are of the view that a constant struggle to balance both sets of life will have serious implications on the health of an employee.The seriousness of this problem increases many times in the cases of women workers in our society which is a traditional one and where women are still supposed to have greater family responsibilities. They are expected to look after their children, entertaining the guest, taking care of their parents, in laws and other elderly members of their families as also managing kitchen and other household affairs. Neglecting any of these responsibilities for the sake of discharging work in office or in other institutions where they are employed is not tolerated by their husbands and other male members of the society. We talk of women empowerment but we fail to understand the problems which working women are facing in the tradition bound society like of ours. The study is a pioneering work to investigate into this problem. It is a modest attempt to understand the manner in which women workers try to maintain balance between their work and family lives. The study also explores the ways and means by which female workers can be enabled to maintain proper balance between the two sets of their lives. The findings of this study may be of great use to employers, and business executives as well, who have now come to realize that the responsibility to maintain a healthy work life balance rests on both the organisation and employee. Pravaha Vol. 24, No. 1, 2018, Page: 217-232


2018 ◽  
Vol 12 (2) ◽  
pp. 469-484 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mashal Ahmed Wattoo ◽  
Shuming Zhao ◽  
Meng Xi

Purpose Considering work and family responsibility has become an important issue due to changes in the lives of people, understanding work and family responsibilities is essential for organizations in assisting employees to increase their well-being. Therefore, the purpose of this paper is to find the impact of perceived organizational support (POS) on work–family facilitation (WFF) and work–family conflict (WFC) and eventually on employee well-being. Design/methodology/approach A survey questionnaire is administered to 1,340 employees of Chinese enterprises. Structural equation modeling is used to test the model fit. Findings Results of this study indicate a significant positive relationship between POS and WFF and significant negative relation between POS and WFC. Results of this paper also indicate that WFF and WFC partially mediate the relationship between POS and employee well-being. Originality/value Over the past two decades, the extent of research on work–family literature has been increased. Most of the work–family research works have been conducted in the Western countries. Very little is known about whether these results are applicable to Eastern societies. This study is extended to focus on work–family literature by drawing a sample from different regions of China. The findings of this study may provide a good understanding of WFC and WFF for Chinese employees. This study stresses the importance of providing organizational support to increase the well-being of employees.


Author(s):  
Tammy D. Allen ◽  
Lillian T. Eby

Multiple factors such as changes in family structure and labor patterns have contributed to interest in work–family scholarship and practice over the past several decades. The global economy and rapidly evolving technology have introduced new challenges to how individuals structure and manage their work and family responsibilities. This chapter sets the stage for the rest of the volume. It includes an overview of the seven sections of the book and brief highlights of the chapters that comprise the total volume.


PLoS ONE ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 16 (3) ◽  
pp. e0248109
Author(s):  
Karla Williams ◽  
Dennis Eggett ◽  
Emily Vaterlaus Patten

Healthcare professionals provide paid care at work and potentially have caregiving responsibilities outside of work; work responsibilities in addition to child and/or elder care is considered double- or triple-duty care. Employees may experience conflict and/or enrichment as their work and family responsibilities interface. This study’s purpose is to explore the work and family interface of Registered Dietitian Nutritionists (RDNs), determine the prevalence of work-family conflict and enrichment, and identify characteristics associated with higher work-family conflict and enrichment scores. A survey instrument assessing caregiving responsibilities and work-family conflict and enrichment was distributed electronically to 4,900 RDNs throughout the United States. Frequencies, means, correlative relationships, and ANCOVA were calculated using SAS software 9.04. Of 1,233 usable responses, nearly two-thirds of RDNs (65.5%) reported providing either double-duty or triple-duty care. About half of RDNs (47.2%) reported work-family conflict and fewer (14.8%) reported family-work conflict. Additionally, most RDNs (79.4%) reported work-family enrichment and even more (85.2%) reported family-work enrichment. Higher work-family conflict scores had correlative relationships with higher levels of burnout, lower life satisfaction, and higher intent to quit. Higher work-family enrichment scores had correlative relationships with lower burnout, higher job satisfaction, higher career satisfaction, higher life satisfaction, and lower intent to quit. Understanding the unpaid caregiving responsibilities of RDNs and the interface of work/family responsibilities may provide insight into career planning for RDNs and guide managers of RDNs in efforts to amplify the contribution of RDNs.


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