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Census Work/life balance

Discussion in 'Community' started by Ender Sai, Mar 18, 2018.

?

What benefits do you get? (select all that apply)

  1. 3 months paid/up to 12 months total parental leave

    29.4%
  2. Wellbeing days

    29.4%
  3. Flexible working arrangements (i.e. can work from home/remotely as you wish)

    52.9%
  4. rostered days off

    23.5%
  5. flexi-time/time in lieu

    38.2%
  6. freedom to leave early/come in late if you have an appointment/engagement

    70.6%
  7. 4+ weeks annual leave

    61.8%
  8. 2 weeks continuous leave requirement

    23.5%
  9. penalty rates (overtime, double time, danger pay etc)

    47.1%
  10. condensed weeks (i.e. 37.5hrs worked over 4 days)

    14.7%
Multiple votes are allowed.
  1. DarthIntegral

    DarthIntegral JCC Baseball Draft/SWC Draft Commish star 9 VIP - Former Mod/RSA VIP - Game Host

    Registered:
    Jul 13, 2005
    I think that community aspect can go a long way towards making it feel like there's better work/life balance, too, when work is involved in community. Here's a bit of what I mean.

    Summer months (roughly Memorial Day to Labor Day) are our busiest season. It's not uncommon for me to work 12 hours in office, head home and after dinner, work two-four more hours. There are a large number of football/soccer fans in my office. Four years ago, they dedicated one of our medium-sized conference rooms to streaming World Cup games. Nobody had to try to break company policy by streaming video at their desk. Nobody had to leave work and not get their job done in order to rush home or to a pub to watch a game. We could coordinate our schedule for the game(s) we most cared about and watch them while doing some of our work, and then get back to it.

    It's a dual recognition. I'm not at my best if I'm putting in 14-16 hours day in and day out, and if I can relieve some of that and ease the burden of intensity on work for a bit - while still being available to a true emergency - it helps both me and the company. And, by giving me the option to do something like that at work, I'm less likely to feel like I need to rush out of work to get home in time for a kickoff.

    They did the same thing last week on Thursday/Friday for the first two days of March Madness, and will be doing the same thing this summer with the World Cup. So, I get to enjoy watching the World Cup. Build up some comradery with coworkers (many of whom I never professionally interact with, and still get my work done.

    not bad for work/life balance, eh?
     
    DarthTunick , Ender Sai and Rew like this.
  2. Rew

    Rew Chosen One star 5

    Registered:
    Dec 22, 2008
    It occurs to me I haven't actually voted yet. I'm not sure about the terminology in the poll, but I'm guessing "wellbeing days" = sick leave, and "rostered days off" = holidays? In which case, I voted yes on both of those. Correct me if I'm wrong. Also, we do have freedom to come in late or leave early at my job, but it comes out of your annual leave.
     
  3. Ender Sai

    Ender Sai Chosen One star 10

    Registered:
    Feb 18, 2001
    No, wellbeing days are best thought of as days that do not require you to have been sick, nor deplete your X weeks per year annual leave (so, 4 weeks in Australia, 5-6 in Europe, and 0.25 in the US lolololol). They're like rostered days off, except you only get a finite number a year.

    Have you ever heard the phrase of taking a "mental health day"? People calling in sick because they've been so busy and stressed they're at breaking point? It's basically a recognised, mandated version of this.
     
    DarthTunick likes this.
  4. Rew

    Rew Chosen One star 5

    Registered:
    Dec 22, 2008
    Ah, I see. No, we have nothing like that where I work. Sure, if you're struggling with a mental health issue, you can take time off from your pool of sick leave (and in fact, my superiors encouraged me to do so last year after my dad passed away). But there are no set aside wellbeing days. I shall have to change that vote!
     
  5. Ender Sai

    Ender Sai Chosen One star 10

    Registered:
    Feb 18, 2001
    Oh it's not contingent on having mental health issues - it's employers recognising that a workforce benefits from having the occasional, gratis leave day in order to be recharged and present when they're at work.
     
  6. Rew

    Rew Chosen One star 5

    Registered:
    Dec 22, 2008
    Yes, we need to have something like that. We don't, but we absolutely should.