Personal life and work balance question

[Martinus]

I refuse to consider an act that perpetuates the species as a "lifestyle choice".

Hahahah, how did I know it will come down to that! Just an inkling. 

You are not being hired by your employer to "perpetuate the species".

What about jury duty (or pogrom duty, in your case)?  Should the employee picked for jury duty get passed over for promotion, because he wasn't smart enough to get off during voir dire?  From the employer's point of view, it makes sense to punish employees who get on jury duty, but that would be a terrible thing for the legal system and our society in general.

What part of "statistical significance" you don't get? Admiral Yi put it the best - you guys are arguing the absolutes. Sure, everyone has emergencies that are rare. However if "emergencies" happen regularly and consequently interfere with their ability to perform their job/meet deadlines on a regular basis, this is no longer acceptable. And stuff like a little kid's ear infections can happen on a weekly basis. If a parent insists on taking the time off/leaving work every time this happens, then it becomes a problem for everyone else.

[Martim Silva]

Over here, Option 1 is the only one acceptable.

Option 2 will get the employer investigated by the State for possible abuse of power over employees. Indemnities and a fine will probably follow suit.

Option 3 will land the employer in jail.

As for me:

Option 1.5 - meaning that while companies should certainly accomodate for a chronic illness and should be flexible regarding taking care of children, that has to be within reasonable bounds. Obviously at some point, it affects career chances, e.g. working part time will harm your prospects, but shouldn't exclude promotion, but having to leave every Thursday at 4 pm to pick up your child from kindergarten shouldn't - companies should be able to cope with that.

Best way to go.

[DGuller]

What part of "statistical significance" you don't get?

The part where "statistical significance" is relevant.  Here is a primer:  statistical significance doesn't mean "a big number as opposed to a small number".  Statistical significance means that given the data, you are confident that the number is not zero.  You can be supremely confident in the estimate that breeders are 0.1% less productive than non-breeders, because you have enough data to estimate the impact so precisely.  However, I doubt that this impact is big enough to worry about for employers.

[Martinus]

I thought we should help saving the bankrupt EU states, but having read the responses from the likes of TheLarch or Martim Silva I think we should let them sink. I'm so happy Poland is not a nanny state of lazy layabouts.

[Martinus]

So you are making a "fairness" argument. I was making an argument from the POV of the *employer* (who is only going to care about "fairness" vs. other employees if it impacts the bottom line somehow). From the employer's POV, what matter is - in offering "accomodation" to parents (thus retaining their services), is it likely to drive away the Martys who are pissed off at such "unfairness"? Which matters more to the employer - parents, or Marty (or Martys?)

In private equity M&A? I'm pretty sure you will find more many Martys than "concerned parents".

[Admiral Yi]

There is always going to be a trade-off with accomodation.

Agreed.  And I think it's perfectly acceptable for businesses to set higher or lower thresholds.

[Malthus]

She was amazing.

?

She was also 56 years old, weighed 220 pounds, and had a bit of a moustache.

Of course, for porto-canucks, that probably equals

[Malthus]

And Malthus - because she was family she probably would have been "on call" all the time.  My sister-in-law mentioned though that she certainly took her days off (in particular once she started wanting to spend time with my brother).

Nope - she was of course willing to be "on call" in emergencies, but she certainly took days off.

For one, she was quite religious and spent every Sunday church-going (the role of religion in effect allowing people to take a day off and socialize is underrated in the modern world).

For another, she had a plethora of relations in Canada to visit.

She was by no means a pushover - more a sort of force of nature, in spite being elderly and somewhat overweight. She did stuff her way, which was usually good because she was good at a lot of things; but her willingness to change or adapt was very limited. For example, she more or less refused to speak English except in very limited circumstances.

[HVC]

She was amazing.

?

She was also 56 years old, weighed 220 pounds, and had a bit of a moustache.

Of course, for porto-canucks, that probably equals

now now... come to think of it, to some them it probably would

[Malthus]

now now... come to think of it, to some them it probably would

You are too damned good natured. Takes all the fun out of attempting to tease you.   

[HVC]

now now... come to think of it, to some them it probably would

You are too damned good natured. Takes all the fun out of attempting to tease you.   

Languish has beat the gruff out of me. I'm like a battered spouse haha

[Martim Silva]

I thought we should help saving the bankrupt EU states, but having read the responses from the likes of TheLarch or Martim Silva I think we should let them sink. I'm so happy Poland is not a nanny state of lazy layabouts.

So sayeth the Pole. When one of our companies took over the supermarket chain Biedronka in Poland and applied there the standard work shifts they demand in Portugal, all the Polish workers went crying to the authorities, whining that they were being 'expoited' and 'driven like slaves'.

Poles gotta show they can work under our employers before they can criticize our workers for being lazy.

[MadImmortalMan]

So sayeth the Pole. When one of our companies took over the supermarket chain Biedronka in Poland and applied there the standard work shifts they demand in Portugal, all the Polish workers went crying to the authorities, whining that they were being 'expoited' and 'driven like slaves'.

Poles gotta show they can work under our employers before they can criticize our workers for being lazy.

That has to hurt.

But hey, Marty isn't some prole pole. He's a high-powered super-somebody. There are different rules in his circle of..whatever.

[Caliga]

I suspect that by the end of this week (and by that I mean Sunday night) I will have worked around 75 hours.

[Ed Anger]

I suspect that by the end of this week (and by that I mean Sunday night) I will have worked around 75 hours.