Mom Friendly Workplaces by Michelle Vandepol

A hot topic for working moms and employers alike is what makes a great mom-friendly workplace. There are things that make a difference and the good news is that you can contribute to nurturing some of them as well. Whether you are looking for a new job or working with your existing one, here are some things to keep in mind.

A mom friendly work place is organized. Meetings are not popping up at the last minute.
The work place hands out realistic work loads. Dumping employees with huge work loads means the incidence of burn out is more likely, as is dealing with needing to leave the office before it’s all done and upping the divide between parents (especially those with small children) and those without.

A mom friendly workplace is a team oriented one. Make sure that you are contributing to this as well. Don’t become indispensable in the sense that you can’t let go of anything. When you’re the control freak in your corner, not letting anyone get close to your duties, you might be setting up a scenario where you are virtually unable to take sick days (for yourself or your kids) or burn-out from the extra load you’ve unwittingly put on yourself.

Even without changing careers it’s possible to make your job more accommodating to your family life. Flex time can take a variety of forms. Here are some scenarios that you can pitch to your boss or negotiate at a future hiring: working a shorter workday to coincide with school hours and cut down daycare costs; working a compressed work week (the same amount of hours over less days); job sharing with another parent; or working traditional hours with the ability to take time off for Pro-D days, school plays, and the like, or work at home if your child is sick.

You don’t have to change how your place of business does business to move to part time yourself. And you don’t have to have mega resources in your corner to do it. Chilliwack mom Stephanie Mosa works as part time hours as an ICU nurse. She acknowledges that it’s a financial sacrifice but she says that by figuring out her personal priorities, she’s managed to have the best of both worlds.

A family friendly job is meant to make your life easier. That said, it might not be easy to get it there, but it’s still worth it. For instance, making a smart switch for you might mean long days going back to school in the short term. Sometimes it means following your heart, especially if that leads you to the same hours as your kids.

Like Mosa; Abbotsford mom, Marlo Jensen is a single mom. She explains how she made her career choice, “I work in the school system, with special needs kids, I did it for two reasons, I have a son who was diagnosed with autism 6 years ago and loved the difference a person could make in child’s life… that reason, and also not wanting to be stuck in an office until dinner time, missing my boys helped in making the decision… great hours, summers and all school breaks off, what could be wrong with that??”

The ones who best know where to find the resources to equip working mothers are other working mothers. They know the pressures to take work home or pick up another shift to help out at work and they know the rush your family is creating for you at home. Talk to your friends who are in the same boat and your co-workers to get insight on how they juggle their work and family loads and to keep yourselves accountable to working towards balance.

Don’t worry that by requesting mom friendly workplace practices, you are being too demanding. Remember that you have skills that your work place benefits from. They want to keep you. Help them be recognized for being mom-friendly. It’s good business for them too.

Michelle Vandepol is the author of Mother Mexico.