Mommy Track Regulations - Essay Example

Compliance with laws such as these entail additional costs to businesses. At first impression, it would seem that corporate policy should be that the employment of women is better avoided than encouraged. However, a study by Cohen & Blanchi (1999) shows a steadily increasing trend in women’s labor force participation for the period 1971 to 1997. This leads to the conclusion that although it may cost more to employ women than men, there is relatively no negative impact on the profitability of businesses. Therefore, the higher costs of employing women will have no implications on the corporate policy as long as the business benefits derived from women employees offset the costs.

Schwartz's definition of two types of working women those who are career-primary and those who are career-and-family is quite accurate. It is therefore desirable for companies to distinguish the different types of career paths followed by female employees. According to Schwartz, career-primary women should be recognized early and accepted so that artificial barriers in their career path to the top may be cleared. Similarly, career-and-family women should also be recognized and accepted and not be made to choose between career and family. Losing such women from the organization means losing a valuable resource and a competitive advantage.

I think there already is such a thing as a mommy track, especially in societies where the traditional roles of male as breadwinner and female as homemaker have been ingrained through centuries. The idea of a mommy track may be a good one. According to Quinn in a Newsweek article (2000), a rising proportion of women are choosing motherhood over a career. Quinn says that this choice is a result of prosperity. When couples needed two incomes to survive, women had to find jobs. But when couples were able to manage with just one income, women can choose between staying at home. In this author’s opinion, a mommy track is not discriminatory both for women and men. It is simply another alternative option to choose from. Quinn’s article quotes a 32-year-old mother of two who says that she does not feel a big need to work because she knows she can if she wants to.

A company that specifically targets women workers must indeed, make special arrangements to address the needs of such workers, including child-raising concerns. Some steps that companies can take to accommodate parental needs more effectively are:
- Granting parental leave to increase the ability of families to balance the needs of the workplace and home. According to a study by Ruhm (2002), the first years of life is a critical period for a child and parents should be granted time and energy to invest in their offspring.

- Implementation of family-friendly programs. Cleveland State University implements family-friendly programs to uphold its respect for working parents, such as Cafeteria Benefit Plans; Employee Assistance Plans, Dependent Care Assistance Plans, part-time employee benefits, telecommuting, flex-time and compressed workweeks, sick leave for ill children and family members, company-sponsored wellness programs and child care, teen and elder care resource and referral (Workplace, 2002).

- Company-on-site Child Care Center, similar to U.S. Endoscopy facility (Workplace, 2002).

A firm is also a social entity and would have the moral obligation to give employees that it engages in work, the flexibility to work out the particular balance of career and family. Although there are as yet no legal obligations beyond those already defined in labor laws, many studies show that many organizations mentioned earlier have already recognized work-life balance for their employees as part of their employer obligations. They have become part and parcel of the social responsibilities of business. The changing nature of work, work environments, and businesses have forced businesses to seriously include work-life balance programs in their operations to cope with the demands of the times and effectively compete not only for quality hires but also for continued business success.