Perhaps the best worker image is subject to pressures from leaders. In 2015, Marissa Mayer, therefore CEO of Yahoo, announced she would get restricted left and continue working after delivering her mini girls. This is despite Yahoo’s improved parental leave laws, which Ms Mayer herself announced, allowing fresh parents to take up to 16 weeks of paid left.
Ms. Mayer was criticized at the time for conveying the tacit message that work should be prioritized over family. This demonstrates how flexi-work and another work-life balance plans may fail. Employees may feel compelled to work extra hours to make up for “lost” time due to guilt and stress from the bottom and from within.
Obviously, most studies on flex- work has been based in the US or other European countries. Data suggests, however, that Taiwanese employers and employees may not be willing to follow flexi-work policies.
For instance, despite being introduced more than a decade before, only 53 % of parents in Singapore who are eligible for paternity leave use their right to paternity leave, citing concerns about career aspirations, coworker guilt, and perceived lack of office support. These problems echo those related to flex- work arrangements.
WHAT CAN EMPLOYERS Complete
Employers and employees alike can take advantage of flexi-work plans. Flexi-work arrangements are appealing to all generations for both recruitment and retention, and telecommuters usually experience better performance, better work-life balance, and less conflict at work-family levels.
How then can companies develop and prepare flexi-work policies to enjoy the advantages of flexi-work arrangements?