ABSTRACT
Employees strain to balance personal and professional responsibilities. In the United States, there is still the belief that work should take precedence over family life, and that it is the woman’s responsibility to take care of the children. On the other hand, the European Union, through legislation, has made it possible for parents to take time off from work to raise children with fewer negative career consequences compared with parents in the United States. Even with the enactment of the Family and Medical Leave Act of 1993 (FMLA), U.S. policies regarding family care continue to compare poorly with policies in other developed countries, including France, Sweden, Canada, and Finland, where family care is institutionalized. In the global labor market, work and family policies have emerged as key competitive factors for businesses. As a result, organizations that do not address these work–life issues are increasing the risk of negative consequences for their employees, which may eventually affect the organization (Neal & Hammer, 2006). The reconciliation of work and family demands is therefore an important human resource issue in organizations.
