Category Archives: Benefits

MILF’s (Mother’s I’d Like To Fire) in the Workplace

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Here is a great post from the archives – I think we’ve all dealt with these issues one way or another. Happy Mother’s Day!

I love the new show “Up All Night.” It is witty, relate-able, and down-right silly at times. This episode I watched was a humdinger and this is where the term MILF’s (Mothers I’d Like To FIRE) came from. A simple and creative play on words.

The premise of the show where Christina Applegate plays the assistant to a Talk Show host (Oprah wanna-be) and is a new mother herself who has gone back to work after maternity leave. Her attorney husband has taken leave from his job to be a stay-at-home dad.

The whole episode was about a new hire played by Molly Shannon, a single mom who was a walking disaster at everything she tried doing and who couldn’t get anything done at work because of her constant interruptions with her children. Christina Applegate’s character could not seem to find the balls to fire her, according to the talk show hosts’ wishes, because she too, was a mother dealing with these same issues.

We’ve all dealt with these kinds of employees or been in this position ourselves, where we’ve had to take time off for taking care of our children whether they were ill, taking them to Doctor appointments, the babysitter wigged out on us or whatever. It can be very disrupting to the workplace. Sometimes employees just can’t get a handle on these things and make it work. They quickly become MILF’s.

I’ve seen it and I’m sure you’ve seen it. It ultimately ends badly just as I explained in this previous post: Balancing Work and Family: Oh Pshaw! In the post I share how when I went on maternity leave I received a call from my boss on a conference call with all the other managers and even the President of the Company telling me “I could come back to work, but not in my same position.” I was being demoted. I felt penalized for taking time off to have my kid.

A new Census report shows that even in our 21st Century, some women STILL don’t even have access to paid maternity leave.

Some 51% of working women who had their first birth between 2006 and 2008 received paid leave (either maternity leave, sick leave or vacation). That’s up slightly from 49% between 2001 and 2005 and from just 42% between 1996 and 2000, the Census study found.

Okay, so about 42% of women did have access to unpaid maternity leave.

The likelihood that women will be able to take paid time off to have children varies dramatically with age, education and hours worked. Only 24% of women under age 22 took paid leave compared with 61% of women 25 and older. Full-time workers (56%) were more likely to use paid-leave benefits than part-time workers (21%), and college graduates were more likely to take maternity leave than those with less education.

So, what about the recession? Some companies are cutting back on paid family leave and many employees are losing access to paid leave altogether due to layoffs.

The Census report, which can be found here, also found that:

• About 22% of first time mothers quit their jobs – 16% while they were pregnant and another 6% by 12 weeks after their child’s birth.

• Eight out of 10 mothers who worked during their pregnancy returned to work within a year of their child’s birth to the same employer. About seven out of 10 of these women returned to a job at the same pay, skill level and hours worked per week.

• Some 82% of working women worked within a month of their child’s birth, compared to 73% 20 years ago.

OH, and we haven’t even discussed breastfeeding accommodations – ugh!

So how have you handled these kinds of MILF’s in your world? Or how you turned them into MILF’s of another kind (Mothers I’d Like to Mentor). I’d love to hear.

The ever changing benefit surveys

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According to Employee Benefit News and a new survey “Caring trumps compensation”, and employees say they will take a promotion without a pay raise. It appears in this survey that job seekers are looking for a caring company over a high base salary.

The poll, conducted by Monster.com and Unum, finds that the top-rated item on would-be employees’ wish lists was a company “that truly cares about the well-being of its employees.”

Some 87% rated caring as a top quality, much higher than compensation, which was tops for 66%.

These same folks also found that employees prioritized:

- Challenging and fulfilling work (84%).
- Job security (82%).
- An attractive benefits package (74%).

“Employees, job-seekers and HR leaders understand the importance of a caring corporate culture in recruiting and keeping a talented workforce,” says Mike Simonds, SVP for Unum. “Benefits play an important role in supporting that culture.” Much more important, it seems, than money.

Now there’s something to show your CFO.

But on the other side of the spectrum, we continue to hear that companies are cutting benefits in an article that states that30 percent of employers will “definitely” or “probably” stop offering coverage in the years after 2014, when new medical insurance exchanges are supposed to be up and running.

But surprisingly, this same study found that more than 85 percent of employees would remain at their jobs even if their employer stopped offering insurance, although about 60 percent would expect increased compensation.

In the end, maybe it’s just like all the healthcare information we continue to receive throughout the media and internet where “they” (whoever they are) tell us a certain thing causes cancer and then we find out a year or so later, that it’s actually good for us. Who and what are we to believe?

We’ll always have surveys, stats, reports, and others telling us best practices, what’s trending, and how the world is evolving  especially now in our current economic state  -  but only time will tell.

What’s working for you in your retention strategy? I’d love to hear and share!


The Circus Act of Employee Wellness

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I recently came across a groupon in Vegas that was giving away 60% off liposuction at a physician’s office. Now, I could hardly believe it – but it is Vegas; anything goes!

It reminded me of some of the absurd ways we try and get our employees engaged to participate in our wellness benefits. From offering them cash, gift cards, vacations to discounts on their health insurance. We try and co-hearse them to quit smoking, to join a gym, to lose weight, to participate in the annual walk or jog-a-thons all for their benefit.

Why is it that we have to come up with creative ways to help them live better lives in and out of work?

The answer? Maybe that’s how we’ve conditioned them to respond or maybe that’s just human nature. From the time our parents started paying us to do chores around the house until we made it into the workplace we have been expecting compensation for our actions (even beyond that of salaries and vacations).  Now, we seem to have created a society of those that continue to say, “Okay, what’s in it for me.”

We’re all asking the question, “Can’t our employees just be healthy on their own without us having to create a circus tent of benefits?”

The answer is a most assuredly no. And especially during this difficult economic time when we’re all shaken up over employee retention and trying to keep our employees happy we are looking for a more creative approach to reach all diverse groups within our circles.

I’m all about benefits for employees and especially those which add value, not only to employees but also to those that help the employers bottom line. But something has to give when our employees are expecting the “next big thing” and for us to jump through hoops to maintain their loyalty and happiness to keep them from jumping ship.

I recently wrote an article in regard to Google’s college style antics on We Know Next (coming in August) and how we may be perpetuating these types of continued expectations and behaviors, if we’re not careful. Even some of Google’s employees are trying to find the “next best” place to work. I can’t help but wonder what those companies will have to come up with to keep the attention of these  folks.

What are your thoughts on this?