Mother's Day is a time to celebrate family whether it is being a daughter, wife, mother, sister, aunt or grandmother.  We need to celebrate the tremendous impact women are having in our communities, on our economy and within our families.

This Mother's Day our policy makers can give all mothers, especially working moms, a lasting gift – policies that make balancing work and family easier.

More and more women are successfully balancing work and family – many because they have to, some because they want to.  In 1955 only 27 percent of mothers in the workforce had kids under the age of 18, today that number is over 70 percent. 

For the first time in our country's history women outnumber men in the US workforce.  And, despite tough economic times, women business owners, remain optimistic about the future and are more inclined to expand their business.

Unfortunately while the demographics of our workforce are changing, our current laws and public policies are not.  Many of our labor policies are too outdated and too stringent for our 21^st Century workforce. 

One of the best gifts we can give mothers is more time.  More time with family, more time to run errands, more time to attend a soccer game or care for a sick parent.   But right now our federal laws make it more difficult for employers to offer working parents the flexibility they need in today's workforce.

Federal laws prevent private sector employers from providing working parents the type of workplace flexibility that could allow families more time to care for an elderly relative or meet the needs of their kids.  Legislation is needed to allow employers to offer their employees the option of taking "comp" time in lieu of overtime pay.  This is a benefit that federal employees have enjoyed for over three decades.  It is time to let all employees have this option.

In addition to flexible schedules, mom's need more flexible benefits.   Working parents, especially women, are forced to make difficult choices when it comes to their careers.  Many parents have to chose between a full-time position with full benefits but a 9-5 (or longer) straight jacket schedule versus taking a more flexible, part-time position but forgoing many of the benefits.   Policy makers should make it easier for employees to trade taxable wages for workplace benefits like health care or retirement.  Policy makers should realize that our tax code makes this difficult.   

Most of the new, small businesses started in the US are run by women.  We need policies that encourage our small businesses to invest in their employees, communities and grow their business.   Policymakers should think twice about expanding the Family and Medical Leave Act (as is being proposed) and reduce the urge to increase taxes on small businesses.  The President's budget would increase taxes on those making $250,000 or more a year.  Many small businesses who report income from sole-proprietorships, partnerships, and S-corporations on individual tax returns would be subjected to this tax increase. 

Finally, we need more portable benefits.  Policy makers should allow people to carry their health insurance from job to job (even while they are unemployed or temporarily out of the workforce) and allow small businesses to cross state lines to purchase a health care plan that works best for their employees.

The best gift our lawmakers can give mothers this Mother's Day is to recognize we need to update our labor laws to reflect the many changes we have seen in the workplace.  Those policy changes should be flexible, personal, voluntary, portable and above all fair.  I hope by Mother's Day 2010 we will make some progress on these important issues and allow Mom the flexibility she needs .

One Response to “Mother’s Day Gift? More Time……”

1. Gina Robison-Billups Says:
   May 8th, 2009 at 11:01 am

   Hi Terry,
   As the CEO of Moms In Business Network, the association representing entrepreneurial, executive and CEO moms, we’re finding a substantial growth in membership because moms are starting their own businesses because they are either looking for supplemental income on flexible hours or they’ve lost their jobs completely due to the economy. The old joke is once you have a business, you have freedom of time – you have the freedom to work any 22 hours a day you want. Many moms find that the harder work is okay though because the trade-off of more quality time with family and the flexibility of that time is worth the hard work.

   More often than not, if employers offered an “entrepreneurial-like” work schedule and place, along with the benefit of a steady, secure paycheck (something you don’t get in business ownership), then they would have the most dedicated and productive employees they’ve ever had. In fact, many of those employees would gladly trade high salaries for more freedom.

   I’ve found too many companies are resistant to changing the old work-place ideology and model. The change needs to begin with CEOs and HR directors. They need to see the benefits to their bottom line, and then they’ll speak up for legislation change.

   Great article. Loved it!

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