Organizational Problems: Policies
Three percent of all the comments dealt with the organization's work-life policies. Respondents noted a wide variety of concerns in this area, including the following:
Canadians also identified concerns with the policies of their organization with respect to flexible hours, telework, overtime work, education, part-time work, leaves in general, parental leave, vacation time, and their organization's drug plan. Private sector employees were substantially more likely to see the policies (or lack thereof) in their organization as contributing to their work-life conflict. Organizations seeking to implement supportive policies would be well advised to learn from the experiences described below.
Policies are not clear
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I would like to get something from the company in writing to describe the policy for flextime, personal days, sick days. Employees would be much happier if they were clear on the company's standpoint because they could take needed time off without guilt. ”
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I don't know what services are available. Some are available on paper but not in practice. Some organizational supports are purely dependent on one's manager. ”
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I believe that in general policies at X are good. Unfortunately, I find that there is a lot of room for interpretation with individual supervisors. Employees generally end up losing the argument, as we have not been informed of our rights with respect to these programs. ”
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There are no policies
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I see this organization as lagging behind others in that it's very slow and hesitant to adopt things such as a compressed work week and flexible hours. These are some features I will be looking for in another organization. ”
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It would be helpful if X offered flex work arrangements, job sharing options or modified work weeks to help employees balance work and family! Right now there is nothing. ”
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Job sharing, compressed work weeks, and working at home just don't appear to be options in our area, although they could be with today's technology. ”
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Inequity with respect to the ability to use the policies
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When work-family programs are applied unevenly and denied to many (as they are in this place), they only serve to further demoralize an already beleaguered workforce. ”
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From personal experience and observation, flexibility in the workplace is based on who you are and if management likes/dislikes you. ”
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I find the company I work for is a good company - but the department I am in is not. There are so many different departments in this company and the rules are so different from one department to another. For example, time off for doctor's appointments without making it up does not exist in our department, but in another department they get time off for kids' appointments without having to make up time. Part-time hours exist in certain departments, but in our department, no way! Lots of favouritism. This really stresses me out. ”
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Policy versus practice: a lack of accountability with respect to use of the policies
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The company says the words in our values and vision statement; management does not, however, practise them. Nor does anyone in the organization have responsibility or accountability to ensure that the policies are put into practice. ”
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Our organization has good policies on paper but does not implement or encourage them. Telework approval is hard to get. If you are allowed, you can only telework between 8:00 a.m. and 5:00 p.m. - you cannot start at 7:00 a.m. Cannot work compressed hours if you are part-time. Cannot work through lunch and breaks to leave early. Seems like our policy is "Cannot." ”
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