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Work, family... and balance? Achievable or impossible? Well, at the very least, we can all agree it is hard, really hard.
I was talking to a single mother of two this week -- I'll call her Jane. Jane sat in my office fretting that she didn't do anything as well as she wanted to. "My fear is that my children have half-a-mom and my job has half-a-worker," Jane said. "Sometimes when I get home, I can tell that my older daughter really needs my attention about an issue with school or friends or boys, and I honestly don't have the energy to give it my full focus.
"I'm so scared she's just going to stop talking to me altogether or act up in school. I sit at my desk at work and worry -- something's got to give, but nothing can!"
Jane's situation is more common than one might think. Less than 7 percent of American families are "traditional" where the husband is sole wage earner. Further, 46 percent of all workers are parents, with 19 percent of all workers being single parents.
Statistics also indicate that the work week at all jobs for all employees now averages 46 hours, and there has been no statistically significant increase in mean income.
Compounding these issues is the struggle to locate and afford quality child care and after-school care. Since such child care rarely includes sick or emergency care, parents must leave work to attend to sick children. Missing work is costly and detrimental to everyone involved. Nationwide, businesses lose $3 billion each year because of child care-related absenteeism, turnover and lost productivity. And for parents like Jane, preoccupation with family situations exact an immeasurable toll on one's ability to provide efficient, focused work even when they are in the office.
So what help is available? The following is a (non-exhaustive) list of Carolina's family support programs:
n The Work/Family Office in Employee Services has an extensive lending library of parenting resources. In addition, in my role as the work/family manager, I can help University employees locate local or national parenting/family support systems and am available for consultation anytime (call
2-6008).
There also are two new University information listservs available. One is for Carolina parents and the other is for Carolina employees who take care of an older family member or parent. These listservs are yours to use for support, advice, postings, swap/trade, resources, etc.
To join the listservs, send an e-mail message to listserv@unc.edu saying:
* "subscribe UNCELDERCAREINFO Your Name" (for elder care information); or
* "subscribe UNCPARENTINFO Your Name" (for parent information).
Also, you can contact Employee Services to learn about many other family travel, event and service discounts. Some additional programs operated out of the Work/Family Office of Employee Services:
* Most people are aware of the new University Child Care Center operated by Victory Village. The center, sponsored by the University and UNC Hospitals, is located next to the Friday Center on Highway 54. It accommodates up to 120 children up to age 4. The facility is "state-of-the-art" and meets the highest licensing and accreditation standards.
* To help address the demanding costs of child care, the Child Care Financial Assistance Program (developed and funded through the Chancellor's Child Care Advisory Committee) helps University employees and students afford quality child care.
The University contracts with Day Care Services Association (DCSA) to administer the program, with the Work/Family Office serving as the University's liaison to DCSA. Employees and students whose gross yearly family income is less than $28,000 should call DCSA (967-3272) or Employee Services (2-1483) for more information about the subsidy program.
DCSA also helps University employees and students find quality care, determine eligibility for additional or alternative subsidy programs and has a vast array of resources for parent use.
* Employees also can save on day care expenses through the NCFLEX pre-tax spending account program and should call the Benefits Department at 2-3071 for more information.
* Carolina's Office of Training and Development (T&D) works collaboratively with the Work/Family Office to offer several "in-house" workshops to address the family concerns of employees.
This spring, in addition to the Elder Care Support Series featured in the Jan. 27 Gazette, there will be a "Lunch & Learn" series for working parents. These courses are listed in the box to the right and also can be found online on the T&D and/or Work/Family web site: http://www.ais.unc.edu/hr/tdev/default.htm
* The State Employees' Assistance Program is available as a resource and referral agency for employees and members of their families having personal problems of all types. The services are free and up to eight hours of work time may be used (with supervisory approval) to use them. Contact the Employees' Assistance Program representative, Susan Criscenzo, at 919-929-2362 (emergency, 24-hour line is 1-800-543-7327) for more information.
* The University encourages supervisors and managers to permit variable work schedules except in cases where work demands and services do not allow flexibility.
An employee requesting a change in work schedule should provide sufficient notice and justification to the supervisor. Supervisors are encouraged to approve work schedules that don't hurt the work unit and that are fair and equitable to all employees. Contact Laura Kellison at 2-1483 for more information.
Carolina Family Matters provided by Employee Services in the Office of Human Resources.
Writer: Laura Kellison, work/family manager
Parents at work: Building strong families
Join us for our lunch time series that will address the issues faced by employees trying to balance their workplace responsibilities with their parenting responsibilities.
All workshops will be held at 725 Airport Road on Mondays (April 5 - June 14) from noon to 1 p.m.
Registration forms are available at: http://www.ais.unc.edu/hr/tdev/reg_form.htm
You may fax the form to 3-9850 or call Training and Development at 2-2550 for more information.
Topics
* April 5: A Balancing Act: Working and Parenting
(Course # WO3001, Section # 0001-99)
* April 12: Time is On Your Side: Making it Work for You
(Course # WO3002, Section # 0001-99)
* April 19: Family Priorities: Determining What is Important (Course # WO3003, Section #0001-99)
* April 26: Family Relationships: Creating Respect Within Families (Course # WO3004, Section #0001-99)
n May 3: Family Responsibility: Raising Responsible Children (Course # WO3005, Section #0001-99)
n May 10: Positive Discipline: Setting Limits and Standing Firm (Course # WO3006, Section #0001-99)
* May 17: Family Communication: Listening and Talking Together (Course # WO3007, Section #0001-99)
* May 24: Home Sweet Home: Making It Your Child's Best Classroom (Course # WO3008, Section #0001-99)
* June 7: School Success: Helping Your Children Do Their Best (Course # WO3009, Section #0001-99)
* June 14: School Success: Becoming an Advocate
for Your Child (Course #WO3010, Section #0001-99)
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