California proposes bold work/life legislation.

Per JD Bliss, highlights include:

1. Adding "familial status" as a protected class under the employment nondiscrimination statute; and
2. Requiring job-protected time away from work for "caregivers".

Critics charge that the proposal, as presently stated, is too broad. They argue that it would cover something as trivial as mom cutting out of work early to go to soccer practice. (That's a bad thing?)

In any event, the proposal reflects the prevalence of the duel income family, and its attendant logistical problems. And as one of the earners in a two income family, I say: it's about time!

Good News/Bad News.

The good news: I received an Evite from one of the other mothers in my son's preschool class. That's nice, I think to myself. I'd like to get to know some of the other mothers. I'm the only working mother of the group, which makes me feel like an outsider, so this is a welcome opportunity.

The bad news: it's all a ploy to sell me shit! In fact, it's a party at a store. An ugly boutique clothing store, no less. Free wine and cheese, plus 10% off anything I buy. *rolls eyes*

Change is under way.

Firm Kills Billable Hour for First Year Associates. Probably because first years are notorious for padding their hours. Partners get sick of writing off their time

Oxymoron?

2007 50 Best Law Firms for Women.

These are the best firms, and the average percentage of female partners (equity and nonequity) appears to be approximatly 25%. Keep in mind that the female to male split is roughly 50/50 in law school and one year out of law school. So what happens between year 1 and partnership?

Paving on ramps.

A new staffing agency, EmployMoms, caters to mothers who seek to rejoin the workforce. I hope this experiment will succeed because it has huge potential for mothers. But I'm skeptical. Will employers sign on to this? If you're an employer, and you have a vacancy to fill, do you go out of your way to request a returning-to-work mother?

"The Billable Hour Must Die"

So says the ABA Journal. "It rewards inefficiency. It makes clients suspicious. And it may be unethical." Not to mention the fact that law firms evaluate an attorney's worth solely based on the attorney's billable hours, and that single factor bears no correlation to the quality of the attorney's workproduct. It also perpetuates a system which is fundamentally incompatible with work/life balance.

Book Rec

Not exactly beach reading, but I recommend Uncommon Arrangements, by Katie Roiphe. It follows the real life marriages of 7 couples living in England from in the early 1900s. For those unfamiliar with Roiphe, she's widely regarded as anti-feminist because of her views on date rape on campus, which she regards as hysteria. See: The Morning After.


Although the book itself is an examination of the institution of marriage, it's relevant to anyone struggling with the "juggle". The women in Uncommon Arrangements are torn between the tradition of domesticity which characterized woman's role in the Victorian era, and the modern role of a woman as a writer or an artist. These progressive women try to import their modern values into human relations and romantic love, with varying results.

Uncommon Arrangements is thought-provoking and serious, but it's hardly a chore to read. Roiphe makes it dishy and compelling. Again, I highly recommend it.

No surprise here.

Americans aren't taking vacation. Reports CNN:

"Our sense is that people are busier than ever with their lives, their family activities, their kids," said Jeanenne Diefendorf of Orbitz. "So they find it difficult to take an extended vacation and easier to balance if they're only gone a couple of days."

I've long believed that Americans are drowning in extreme work hours. But, because it's the norm, few are riled by it. Vacation isn't a priority; it's an afterthought. People don't want to go away because they're afraid of how far behind they will be at work when they come back.

Why do business magazines insult women?

Forbes published an article entitled "Don't Marry a Career Women." Well that's Forbes, and everyone knows it's a conservative rag anyway.

Now my beloved Money Magazine is counseling its female readers on how to marry a billionaire. It includes such nuggets as "be a status faker", "be into what he's into" and get a job in one of the following industries in order to snag your man: real estate (with a specialty in mansions); luxury-car, private-jet or yacht sales; work at museums, galleries or high-end antique shops; interior design or architecture; and race-horse training. Not that a woman would have her own independent career goals.

Although the article purports to be gender neutral, it counsels male readers to target widows because

...for all of the strides women have made in the workplace, most superrich gals do acquire their wealth through their relationships with men.

Really? I guess Martha Stewart didn't get that memo. Why, Money, why must you insult me?

Don't miss Jean Chatzky puttin in her two cents worth. ps she sucks too.

An idea whose time has come?

The "Entitlement Slayers." Says the founder of this high-concept career counseling firm:

This is a generation...who have heard, from the moment they came out of the womb, that they are great and can do whatever they want. These kids have been helped, coddled, nurtured, told that they can do no wrong. We give them a dose of reality.

Of course, this "dose of reality" comes at a cost: $3,250. So parents shell over thousands of dollars to readjust their over-entitled children's sense of entitlement. Anyone else see the irony in this?

Here's a novel idea: don't spoil your kids.

Vacation is so five minutes ago.

Haven't you heard? Working 24/7 is in vogue, at least according to Michael Bloomberg. Says Bloomy:

“If you’re the first one in the morning and the last one to leave at night and you take fewer vacation days and never take a sick day, you will do better than the people who don’t do that. It is very simple,” he says. (The mayor also said he’s raised two daughters who have turned out very well, “thanks to their mother, no thanks to me.”) He praised his father, William H. Bloomberg, “who worked seven days a week his entire life until he checked himself into the hospital to die.”

But never fear, Yahoo Hotjobs is looking out for us all. The ball and chain is keeping you from taking your well-deserved vaca? Have a donut break.

Good thing Teddy K is looking out for us!

Buzzword of the Day: "Hybrid Mom"

A hybrid mom is part SAHM and part working mom. Confused? Me too. But now there's a whole new maggie dedicated to these...er...hybrids.

The maggie defines its target demographic as follows:

Hybrid Mom (hy brid mom, n.): An adult female who has discarded outdated and unrealistic conceptions of motherhood. She is parent, wife, volunteer, and sometimes entrepreneur, all in one. Known for her strength, sense of humor, and flexibility, a hybrid mom is actually a fusion of roles that suit her own individuality.

Wow, neat. *cough*gimmick*cough* And based on the volume of stuff they're peddling on their website, some one believes these Hybrid Moms have a fair amount of disposable income!

Good luck.

To counteract female attrition at law firms, a group of Heller Ehrman attorneys propose to eliminate billable hours requirements.

All Work, No Play for Many, Study Shows

Report suggests workers excessive hours. Ya think?

Angelina: "Brad and I will retire in a few years."

I'm so with her on that one. In my dreams. Angelina on the juggle.

The mother of all battles.

Working mothers versus stay at home mothers.

Men versus women.

Married versus childless.

Imagine how much energy goes into these battles. Wasted energy.

On the other hand, Penelope Trunk touches upon what I perceive as a worthy battle - the battle between the y0unger and older generations. She writes:

For the first time ever, this generation will not be more well-off financially than their parents. What should we make of this new finding? Does this mean the American Dream is no longer attainable?

Probably not. Because this statistic is just a magnified section of a much larger picture – of the great generational shift taking place in America since Generation X became adults.

The shift is in the definition of the American Dream. Our dream is about time, not money. No generation wants to live with financial instability. And we are no exception. But finances alone do not define someone’s American Dream. Especially when our dream is about how we spend our time.

Is it any wonder why we value time over money? Answer: we value time because it's been robbed of us. We're drowning out here in the workforce. We take little, if any, vacation, and when we do we bring our Blackberries. We work 60 hour workweeks. We're stressed out. The shift in values that Trunk accurately perceives represents a backlash.

The problem is the older generation - senior management. They're the ones perpetuating the problem. They worked like a slave to line some one else's pockets, and now they want payback. They paid they're dues, and now they're looking to collect.

Here's a novel idea: each of the other constituencies listed above - men, women, parents, childless individuals, even SAHMs - should band together and revolt against the older generation. Work/life policies that benefit only one constituency are perceived as an entitlement and breed resentment. Childless workers become resentful when their married counterparts skip out early. Men become resentful when women are given a pass on long hours. Instead of fighting against each other, each of these groups should unite to effect a change in work/life balance that benefits all employees. After all, everyone deserves sanity.

This looks promising.

Support the Balancing Act.