Dear Companies Dont Give Us Flex Time if Youre Going to Punish Us for Using It

Dear Companies Dont Give Us Flex Time if Youre Going to Punish Us for Using It Youve probably heard this story before A female employee is pleasantly surprised by zu sich companys willingness to accommodate her new role as a mom. Shes given permission to leave at 5 p.m. sharp to pick up her son from daycare, and shes even allowed to work from home when hes sick or the center is closed.But then her managers lip curls when she actually tries to leave the office. Shes inundated with emails on her days off, and is taken to task for being unresponsive when she doesnt reply at 930 p.m. The promotion she was promised goes to anotherchild-freeemployee. Her career stalls.Now, researchers have coined a new term for the phenomenonworkplace flexibility biasto describe environments where employees believe they are unlikely to get ahead if they take leave or work flexibly. And that perception is damaging in mora ways than one, according to two new studies published inSociological Perspectives andC ommunity, Work, Family.When employees believe workplace flexibility bias exists in their organizationthat their career will be derailed just by taking time off or asking for small accommodationsthey are less happy professionally and are more likely to say they will quit their jobs in the near future. It also increases the number of minor health problems and depressive symptoms, and leads to more absenteeism at work and worse self-rated health and sleep, say the studies authors, Dr. Lindsey Trimble OConnor, Ph.D., an assistant professor of sociology at California State University, and Dr. Erin Cech, Ph.D., an assistant professor of sociology at the University of Michigan.The two published anarticle in theHarvard Business Review recapping their results, and while they note working moms are particularly impacted by flexibility biasmommy-tracked into less-demanding, lower-paying positionsits actually harmful for everyone. So harmful, in fact, the title of one study compares the toxic s ide effects to second-hand smoke.The researchers surveyed 2,700 U.S. employees from a range of occupations, industries and sectors and from different racial, ethnic and socioeconomic backgrounds. They found that even men who dont have kids and who have never taken family leave or worked flexibly are harmed when they see flexibility bias in their workplaces.We think employees generally do not like working for organizations that penalize people for having lives outside of work, they continue. They dont feel supported, and they feel a lack of control over their schedules.Of late, more and more companies have paid lip service to the notion of encouragingwork-life balance. Certainly, more have madeflexible work policies officially available for their employees. Of theWorking Mother 100 Best Companies, for example, 71% offered flex time in 2009 by 2017, 80% offered the benefit. In 2009, 46% offered telecommuting in 2017, it rose to 57%.But official policies arent enough, Dr. OConnor and D r. Cech argue. Our research also shows that having an engaged, committed and healthy workforce does not come just from offering a generous suite of family-leave and flexible-work options. Organizations also need to pay close attention to the messages they send to employees about actually using these policies. A great set of flexible policies from HR means little when employees think their careers will be derailed by them.In addition to offering formal flex policies, they say, employers need to keep tabs on how many workers actually use them. If employees arent taking advantage of their benefits, its a red flag that probably points to a toxic work culture. Most importantly, managers should lead by example.When managers take full paternity and maternity leaves, head home early a few days a week to help their children off the school bus, or arrive late after a dentist appointment, those around them feel less anxiety about taking leave or working flexibly.In other words, dont just talk the talk. Companies need to walk the walk by actually allowing employeesall of them, moms includedto have a life outside the office. We couldnt agree more.This article originally appeared on Working Mother.WorkingMother is amentor, role model,and advocate for the countrys more than 17 1000000 moms who are devoted to their families and committed to their careers. Through our website,magazine, research, radio and powerful events,WorkingMotherprovides its readers with the community, solutions,and strategies they need to thrive.