Les entreprises et la conciliation de la vie professionnelle et de la vie familiale [Vers le modèle du «père au travail» ?]

Abstract

Companies and reconciling personal and family lives. Towards a «father at work » model ? On the basis of a survey using questionnaires and interviews conducted in insurance companies and social work offices in France and the United Kingdom, the authors analyse the implementation of policies intended to reconcile family life and careers. In both countries, policy results in increased flexibility in employees’ working hours leading to a degree of convergence in some types of flexibility such as movable or variable working hours (especially in France). Differences do remain, however, such as compressed weeks and job-sharing (in the UK) and, to a lesser extent, teleworking. The authors point out a paradox : although flexibility is increasing in France as part of formal (legislative or negotiated) policies, the flexible labour market in the UK conceals major obstacles to «deliberate » flexibility, especially with regard to organisational attitudes and norms. More specifically, with regard to the way in which men use reconciliation measures, managers – especially British managers – are net losers from such measures as the victims of social pressure to «be present » at the place of work. Similarly, managers and team leaders are a vital component in implementing (or not) their companies’ reconciliation policies. Furthermore, when the reconciliation measures proposed are too clearly marked as «reconciliation » , they do not succeed.

Editorial: Work–life Balance: A Matter of Choice?

“…These measures are often targeted at highly skilled people in an effort to recruit and retain key staff (Gray and Tudball, 2003). However, those with managerial responsibilities can find it difficult to take up work–life measures, whether because of explicit exclusions or because in practice they have to do whatever it takes to get the job done (Gregory and Milner, 2006; McDonald et al. , 2005).…”

“…‘Organizational career cultures’ prevent men from overtly choosing a work–life balance over their career. Consequently, men are often found using informal flexibility, or taking advantage of gender‐neutral flexibility such as flexitime systems, to improve their work–life balance at the margins (Gregory and Milner, 2006, 2008).…”

Trade Unions and Work‐life Balance: Changing Times in France and the UK?

“…Our article stems from a wider project on family‐friendly and WLB policies in insurance and social work in France and the UK, funded by the French Family Benefit Agency ( Caisse Nationale des Allocations Familiales ) and with additional funding from the British Academy (see Gregory and Milner 2006). This project, carried out between 2001 and 2005, was based on a questionnaire, which we distributed to human resources (HR) officers in the major insurance companies and local authorities in both countries.…”

“…In this article, we seek to identify factors that might encourage or inhibit trade unions from involvement in WLB issues, within a cross‐national comparative perspective focusing on two countries (France and the UK) that have contrasting working time regimes. We draw on fieldwork carried out in France and in the UK between 2001 and 2005 in insurance and social work (see Gregory and Milner 2006). Before describing our findings, we briefly set out the working time regimes in France and in the UK, and the methodology for our fieldwork.…”

Why Most Swedish Fathers and Few French Fathers Use Paid Parental Leave: An Exploratory Qualitative Study of Parents

“…In contrast, this big national divide does not occur for paternity leave. The majority of both French and Swedish fathers use the 3 and 10 days respectively of paternity days available after the birth of a child (Gregory & Milner, 2006).…”