Find formulas that respond to complexity of balances posed by the development of work and family life, is one of the priorities addressed in the report "Business perspective on the reconciliation of work and family life", recently published by the CEOE.
And it is that the lack of conciliation is one of the main problems that most working parents find, many of whom must give up their professional career in order to take care of their children. Is this the only possible solution or could there be other ways to reconcile both of them?
Reconcile, task of men and women
According to data from the Ministry of Employment and Social Security, from January to June 2017, 98% of women who enjoyed a maternity leave did not share it with the other parent. Likewise, the 91.18% of family leave leave is requested by women.
This is one of the first reflections obtained from reading this report: conciliation must be a matter for both men and women. This statement, which a priori may be evident to us, is not so clear because today the number of women who renounce their professional career when they have children is still much higher than that of men.
And this is something we should change from all levels of society; starting with a change of mind of many ordinary citizens who still consider that the care of children "is a matter of women", and ending with companies where it is common to see a clear inequality of wages, responsibilities and treatment among their workers, depending on whether they are men or women.
How do we reconcile the Spaniards?
According to data from the CEOE, workers are currently resorting to temporary conciliation to be able to combine their work and family life: taking leave of absence, reductions in working hours or temporary suspensions.
But nevertheless, Not all companies have the same organizational margins to allow reconciliation, and in this sense the CEOE warns of the scarcity of resources of microenterprises or SMEs to deal with the different conciliation situations raised by their workers.
Further, the business organization doubts that the current conciliation measures are favorable and beneficial for all, because it considers that they harm the professional career of the workers, their contributions to Social Security and, in addition, they create situations of rigidity and tension with the companies.
"The permit system is the most used conciliation tool in Spain, despite its high cost of absenteeism and its clear impact on the career and loss of income of those who request it" - says the report
"This measure also has limited effectiveness for the effective reconciliation of work and family life of workers and for the promotion of co-responsibility between men and women in family care. It also has a negative impact on the labor participation of people with family responsibilities, which especially moves to women "
What conciliation measures does the CEOE propose?
Taking into account the previous point, and given the complexity of the subject, the CEOE advocates a multiple approach when it comes to promoting work and family reconciliation, which would go through adopting, among others, the following measures:
Financial assistance for the birth of a child in its first two years of life
Facilitate the Access to schools for children under three, affecting the quality and cost of services
Tax relief for hiring a person who takes care of the children while parents work
What worker and company pacten an annual workday and study together the best way to repat this time
Creation of effective employment policies that increase the equitable labor participation of men and women
Financial aid to companies so that they can hire people who are going to cover a maternity leave a while before the leave occurs, so they can learn in advance the tasks they will have to perform later
Aid for companies that want to implement conciliation measures that need technological or organizational development, such as, for example, teleworking
However, the CEOE does not consider that an improvement in working hours is a "realistic" proposal, since there are multiple cultural elements that prevent it, such as the importance of hospitality and commerce in our country, the taste for social life, television schedules, weather or leisure proposals.
Likewise, it invites entrepreneurs to "face conciliation with a different look" Because of this, in many cases depends a greater commitment on the part of the workers, a lower labor absenteeism and unwanted rotation and better labor relations, in addition, of course, of the global reputation of the company.
"The conciliation must be seen as a fundamental element for the management of people, talent and flexibility towards the future, and must be integrated into the individual characteristics of each situation and within each company, paying attention to the specificities of each of they"
Conclusions
Personally, I do not agree with some of the measures proposed by the CEOE, but I fully agree that conciliation is the task of men and women, and that being a father and wanting to take care of your child should not be at odds with developing your professional career.
There are mothers, and fathers, who make the firm and convinced decision to abandon their jobs to take care of their children. From my point of view, it seems to me a respectable, courageous, wonderful and enriching decision, both for mother / father and for the baby.
But also we must respect who decides to return to work, either because of economic necessity (since unfortunately not everyone can reduce their workday or stop working) or because their work occupies a plot of their life that they want to continue cultivating. Is it fair, then, that these people should choose between being parents or working? In my opinion it is not, at all!
Work to ensure better reconciliation policies are in the hands of everyone (not just business owners).
There is no doubt that conciliation has a great impact, not only present but also future, by having a direct impact on the upbringing and education of our children: the adults of tomorrow.IStock photos
Via Business perspective on the reconciliation of work and family life - CEOE
In SMEs and freelancers Almost six out of ten women give up their professional career as mothers
In Babies and More Increases the percentage of men who take leave to take care of their children (and decreases that of women), "I am not a babysitter", a father explains why we should not be grateful to take charge while mom is not, No one can demand a pregnancy test to access a job (if it happens, report it), More than 35 million children under 5 are left alone at home while their parents work
