Conference moira::parenting

         Yes, I just saw the article yesterday myself and was also saddened
    to see that Digital was missing.  It is not a pretty picture.
    
    

    This is the second year that Digital hasn't made the top 100.
    I remember this being discussed in PARENTING_V3.
    
    Carol

    I'm wondering why we didn't make it.  Makes one wonder how clear
    the magazine's criteria are.
    
    The other thing that I keep thinking of in "the new Digital,"
    is will we continue to be as family-friendly as we are/were?
    Let's face it, Digital is far from perfect.  But the company
    is, for the most part, quite understanding about family concerns.
    Having said this, I know that there are a lot of bastard managers
    out there of both genders and all backgrounds who won't give ANYONE
    a break.  But in the main, DEC is really quite good about family
    issues, better than most, not as good as some.  
    
    I'm still bothered by the fact that nurturing still is seen as a
    "women's issue," as evidenced by (was it .1?) who wrote that 
    "...companies are using this as a tool to recruit women."  One
    of the reasons that my husband likes working for a small company
    is that he feels he has the flexibility that was missing when
    he worked for big companies (United Shoe Machinery, Raytheon, etc.).
    He is doing a lot better about sharing child care with me -- dropping
    the kids at day care, taking them to the doctor's, etc. -- and he
    believes that he wouldn't have this flexibility if he worked for a
    big company.  Maybe he would, maybe he wouldn't.  The point is,
    men belong to families, too, and I think if we were looking around
    for other jobs right now,  my husband would consider a potential
    employer's family policies in addition to salary and health benefits.
    I see the companies' point in wanting to recruit talented women, but
    I firmly believe that men consider family-friendly policies to be
    important, too.
    
    Sorry to ramble,
    kate

    Digital was missing last year too. I just started getting the 
    magazine last year, and I am not surprised that Digital is
    not on it. I don't want to get into why I am not surprised, but
    I do believe we have a ways to go before it will appear on the
    list.
    
    

re: .3

>    I'm wondering why we didn't make it.  Makes one wonder how clear
>    the magazine's criteria are.

     I think you've got it right on there.  These kind of "100 best" type
things often rely on reputation and anecdotal evidence.
     Also, it's a lot easier to make these lists in good times.  You can
provide career opportunities, people are scarce, so the company must
accommodate them and must be develop them, the money is there for "nice to
have" type programs and benefits.  I tough times, it's more difficult.  
Career paths dry up and get blocked,  people are in excess, and "nice to 
have" type programs and benefits start to go away.
     Another reason, I think, is that there was nothing special about the
policies and programs about Digital that made it an excellent place for 
working mothers.  The Management style gave ability for managers to create 
informal, special programs.  So it wasn't surprising that some managers did 
quite nicely by their employees who were working women, and it was easy to 
find that positive anecdotal evidence.  That's also why we have the replies, 
in notes about going to part-time schedules, that say "It depends on your 
manager," and "How come it doesn't work that way for me?"
     And finally, when things start to go sour, public perception and
"conventional wisdom," which is what lists like these are all about, have a
tendency to overreact. My personal opinion is that I've seen and worked in
companies that were far, far, worse to work in, for working parents, 
especially women, than Digital.  Top 100?  I don't know.
     In summary, I was never terribly excited that we made this list, because 
I felt the reasons -- listed above -- had more to do with the company's 
financial success than its attitude toward working parents, especially 
mothers.

Clay 

    No doubt Working Mother simply stopped listening to the self-serving
    propaganda that Digital was family-friendly. It can be an excellent
    place to work, but as a corporation is has always been far from
    sympathetic to families.  
    
    For example, when it was consistently making the list, it was always
    the only company on the list that had no provision of any kind for
    dealing with child care.  Part-time work is barely recognized as
    legitimate at all, and is available only on a personally negotiable
    basis. Etc, etc...
    
    Kit

    One reason Digital fell off the list isn't that it has gone backwards
    in family-freindliness, but that other companies have gone further
    ahead on family issues while DEC sat still.
    
    With downsizing in effect, I don't see DEC going any further ahead on
    family issues until it becomes an issue for retaining employees DEC
    considers valuable.  (Maybe in 5 or 6 years)
    
    Meg  

    My friends who work for other companies (Lotus, Apple, Microsoft
    among others) have significantly better family-related benefits
    than we do now.  We're still where we were five years ago while
    other companies have been making great strides.  
    
    --bonnie 

    I have worked at DEC for over 11 years now and it has done very little
    to advance in the family area.  It used to be that we were looked at
    favorably for such things as family outings, limits on how much
    vacation time you could accumulate (which meant you had to take some
    time off) and our insurance packages.  We also had parental leave
    (unpaid) at a time when a number of other companies had none.  It is
    true that there are other companies out there that are worse, but
    Digital has not advanced and has gone backwards in the areas of
    insurances and family gatherings and parental leave is not a guaranteed
    thing.
    
    I have been lucky to have had managers in DEC who were family oriented
    but sometimes they were chastised for such.  
     I have friends at Apple and HP who can work flex hours, have more
    paid time off for parental leave or taking care of other family members
    and have more than just a phone number to call for assitance with child
    care and elderly care.
    
    At present Digital is just average.  It has a ways to go to catch up to
    what it was and it will probably be a long time before that happens.
    
    Michelle 

    
    'Morning,
    I can only speak for my self,but down here in Israel I feel pretty good
    working for DEC AND being a mother (1,and expecting my second late
    March)
    On days when Yahli is sick and can't go to the day-care center-I get a
    day off (mothers get some days off just for this matter) and NOONE had
    ever said a word. If I have to leave early because of Yahli (all kinds       
    of reasons)-I do ask for permission,but so far I did not hear "no". 2
    years ago (less than) when we were in war time,the SMT group                 
    (management) had set 2 rooms will ALL accommodations so the kids could
    stay with the parents the whole day (they even hired special women to
    take care of the kids while we were working) so those parents with
    kids did not have to worry sick whenever the siren went off. The first
    year after my baby was born I also worked an hour less every day
    (8am-4pm) which is a GREAT benefit (got paid the same!) and as far as        
    I know (friends who work for other computer companies here) DEC is the
    only place who gives you this benefit (others will give I for 3 months,      
    or non at all if you are not nursing).
    I don't get this magazine you are talking about,but I am sure glad I
    work for DEC.

    Has anyone heard of a program at some other corporations which permits
    and/or encourages managers to grant discretionary time off to employees
    with family needs or special religious requirements?
    
    I have heard of such a program, which I believe was at Kodak, but maybe
    I got it wrong.  I think it was called Discretionary Days.
    
    I would like to identify companies with such programs and get the
    details on their implementations, such as a copy of the written
    personnel guidelines.
    
    Such a program would be a great aid to working parents, employees with
    dependent elderly parents, people who need particular religious
    holidays, people who need time for a death in the family, and many
    other individual situations that are not now covered.
    
    I believe it would relieve much of the pressure on U.S. employees.
    
    Thanks for any details,
    Laura

I believe that such a program does exist at HP, where there each employee 
has a number of days that they can take off for any reason, which could 
include family emergencies, religious holidays, real estate closings, and the 
like.  I also believe that attendance is more strictly monitored -- for 
example everybody submits a time card, and the time card is expected to be 
accurate.

Clay

    It's generally handled the same way as sick time.  
    
    --bonnie

RE: .10

The items you ticked off as "benefits" are all prescribed by law in your
country. They aren't in the U.S. and DIGITAL does not grant them to U.S.
employees.

    .14
    Yes and no.The law "says" that a nursing mother can have one hour off
    every day FOR AS LONG AS SHE NURSES,and no more than one year after the
    baby is born.Some places like INTEL want a note from the doctor that
    you are indeed nursing,some only gives you this benefit for 6 months.We
    get a whole year,even if we do not nurse.
    r/