Reference no: EM132873894

Magda Hyshka, manager of HR policies for the largest telecommunications company in Canada, TelPlus, had been asked by her director of HR to develop an innovative policy to address the work-family issues facing the company.

As part of her research, Magda uncovered the following facts:

• Workers spend an average of 62 minutes a day (or ten days a year) com¬ muting to and from work.
• Forty-six percent of workers reported moderate to high levels of stress in 1999, compared to 64% in 1989; one in five workers reported high levels of stress in 1991-this changed to one in three in 1999; 10% of the workforce was depressed in 1999; two out of five disability claims were due to depres¬ sion or anxiety in 1999.
• Three-quarters of female employees felt that commitment to families is a barrier to career advancement; 41% report postponing pregnancy or not having a child at all.
• Twenty-seven percent of employees report moderate to high levels of stress from balancing work and family responsibilities, an increase of 75% in a decade.
• Technology enabled employees to work seven days a week and at any time during the day or night, and many felt that they were expected to be avail¬ able (online) all the time.
• Since the events of September 11, 2001, many Canadians are rethinking their commitment to work, with 81% intending to spend more time on per¬ sonal matters and less on the job.

Magda also researched information from the United States, recognizing that Canada tends to lag behind the hot issues in the United States:

• The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported that work hours have been increasing steadily over the last decade. Twenty-five million Americans worked at least 49 hours per week, and 11 million Americans worked 59 hours a week.
• Forty-six percent of employees feel overworked and overwhelmed and lack the time to step back and reflect on their work; 61% say they would give up pay to spend more time with their families; 36% state that they would be willing to take a pay cut to have a shorter commute.
• Demographers predict that more than half the children born in the 1990s will be raised in a family home with both parents living with them; 62% of women with children under six are employed, and mothers with preschoolers make up the fastest-growing segment of the workforce. Forty- four percent of Americans between the ages of 45 and 55 have aging par¬ ents as well as children under 21.
• Paradoxically, the number of Americans living alone has surpassed the number of married couples with children.

Sources: Y.A. Laroche, Fine Balance. Ottawa: Canadian Centre for Management Development,

2000; D. Patel, Workplace Visions. Alexandria, Virginia: SHRM, Vol. 4, No. 2, 2002.

Question:

***Continue the research started by Magda. summarize your findings and recommending policies that will help your employees cope with work-family balance issues.