• Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer

Women Deserve Better

Women Deserve Better: For us, that means better information, better support, and better choices. Life brings challenges. We bring empowerment, because we’ll never underestimate women.

  • Work
    • Find a Job
    • Build a Career
    • Take Maternity Leave
    • Thrive As a Working Parent
    • Know Your Rights at Work
  • Learn
    • Earn Your Degree As a Parent
    • Know Your Rights on Campus
    • Finance Your Education
    • Medical Care for Student Moms
    • Housing for Student Parents
    • Child Care While You’re In Class
  • Live
    • Child Care
    • Feeding Your Family
    • Elder Care
    • Housing
    • Clothes
    • Medical Care
    • Getting Around
    • Money Matters
    • Gardening
    • Special Needs
    • Fun
    • Self-Help
  • Love
    • Adoption
    • Bonding
    • Fathers
    • Your Parents
    • Support Networks
  • About
    • Our Mission
    • Contributors
  • Shop
    • Shop
    • View Cart/Checkout
  • Support Us
  • Donate
  • Home

What Are Your Rights with a Medium-Sized Company?

June 6, 2017 by Bethanie Ryan

rights in a medium sized company

In determining how any size employer accommodates families, a good place to begin is Feminists for Life’s Family-Friendly Workplace Evaluation, from “Raising Expectations in the Workplace.” This tool helps to identify what policies, resources, employer and community support, and communications strategies employees and employers can use to work together. Among the issues covered in Feminists for Life’s survey are flexibility in work situations, accessibility for parents, health, safety, and family leave.

Does the 1993 Family and Medical Leave Act apply to mid-sized companies?

If the company has at least 50 employees in a 75 mile radius, then the FMLA applies. Also, public agencies and public or private schools, even with fewer than 50 employees, must comply with FMLA. Workers must have a 12-month tenure with the employer to be eligible for the time off.

What family-friendly approaches do mid-sized employers offer?

Many private businesses support some working from home to not only keep their employees satisfied but also as a strategy that makes more prospective workers interested in their companies. About two thirds of U.S. state agencies surveyed list improved morale as the big benefit to flexible schedules. There is also the health benefit of decreased stress among employees attempting to find balance in their work and family lives. Both fewer doctor visits and better sleep have been attributed to workers’ feelings of increased autonomy.

Several empirical studies have correlated flexible work arrangements with increased productivity. In retail situations, for instance, employees with more control over their schedules report more satisfaction with their jobs. Their managers see that satisfaction translated into better interaction with customers.

Besides flexible scheduling, as much as 12 weeks of unpaid leave may be available in a year for such situations as the birth or adoption of a child or the illness of the employee or of one of his or her family members. A worker now has more choices when caring for family without fearing loss of a job. Some workers are able to opt for intermittent leave to not only allow for recuperation and bonding after the birth of a child, for instance, but also for major events like training a new nanny or planned surgeries for the child.

What about health insurance for dependents?

When a workplace already extends coverage to dependents, the cost and amount of coverage should make health care reasonable for parents. Prioritizing better insurance when negotiating for family-friendly benefits makes sense. For more information about insurance and health care, see the health care page.

Are there other perks a mid-sized business might offer parents?

All or some of the parental leave may be paid. More employees also increase the demand for not only flexible scheduling and telecommuting, but also for lactation rooms and on-site day care. When child care is available on site, other family-friendly policies are feasible. In a 2013 report by Human Capital Institute, about 40 percent or more human resource professionals reported that family-friendly policies reduced absenteeism, turnover, and employee stress in their organizations. So even mid-sized businesses can see the benefit.

By Cheryl Blake

Filed Under: Know Your Rights at Work, Work Tagged With: employee rights, medium-sized company, parenting rights, pregnancy rights

Primary Sidebar

Suggested Articles

How to Talk to Your Employer About Your Pregnancy

What Are Your Rights with a Large Company?

What Are Your Rights with a Small Company?

fb-share-icon

Footer

Women Deserve Better

1 day ago

Women Deserve Better
Who is cutting the onion? 🥲I’m sharing this on the grid, because we all need a laugh.So this is not a poem.It’s about poo.And not even my child's poo.This is a story about the glamorous life of me right now.I'll keep it short, much shorter than my trip to the toilet.Both the kids were having screen time because quite frankly I had had enough and was at my limit, the move has been a lot and we were all a bit overwhelmed.Heidi had decided she wouldn't do her nap in the bassinet & so I strapped her in the carrier, seems to be the norm these days.Only, her nap lasted much longer than I had anticipated. An hour went by & the urge to pee was too great, yet so was the urge to not wake her.After careful consideration I thought I would attempt going to the toilet with her strapped in, surely I could manoeuvre all I needed to, and with a slight sway while weeing she may even stay asleep.Mother's can do anything right....But no, my body had other plans.Code brown alert.Not too far along post birth it was safe to say there would be no holding back. My mind was saying no... everything all postpartum down there was saying hell YES.So here I was, sitting on the toilet at my nanas house, kids out in the lounge while I was stuck on the toilet with my baby strapped to me taking a twosie.Other than the fact this was not my plan at all (and pretty unsanitary), she started to wake, of course she did.Now, unloading a baby from a carrier at the same time you're unloading timber is quite the awkward art. But here we were, my gorgeous little baby in my arms, carrier and pants at my feet with her apologetic mum just trying to finish what she unintentionally started.Luckily it was all smiles from her.I cooed & talked to her like it was totally normal for her to wake up in this little echoey room with her mum feeding the fish, and then it happened...her first official laugh.What a moment to behold.This is the way I live. This is what I do.Baby milestone book: place and date of first laugh 🚽✔️When Drew got home from work I needed a moment, just one moment alone to regain some dignity.I went to hand her over & he said,"yep just give me a moment to pee first" 🫠Art: @this_mama_doodles ... See MoreSee Less

Photo

View on Facebook
· Share

Share on Facebook Share on Twitter Share on Linked In Share by Email

Women Deserve Better

2 days ago

Women Deserve Better
How friendship works with little ones. It is too stinking cute!Fuecoco meets Totodile twitter: fieldexplores ... See MoreSee Less

Photo

View on Facebook
· Share

Share on Facebook Share on Twitter Share on Linked In Share by Email

womendeservebetter

Getting ready in the morning. #mommeme #mommemes Getting ready in the morning.

#mommeme #mommemes #parenting #parentingishard #parentingmeme #parentingmemes #dadmeme #dadmemes
Nothing quite as frustrating as your kid refusing Nothing quite as frustrating as your kid refusing to clean up. 

#mommeme #mommemes #parentingmeme #parentingmemes #dadmeme #dadmemes
True story. Me: Time for bed! Toddler: I'm going True story.

Me: Time for bed!

Toddler: I'm going to make this way harder than it needs to be.

#mommeme #mommemes #parentingmeme #parentmemes #dadmeme #dadmemes #bedtime #bedtimeishard #bedtimewithtoddlers #bedtimewithtoddler
Load More... Follow on Instagram
Thanks for signing up!

GET OUR LATEST NEWS

ABOUT

  • Our Mission
  • Contributors

SUPPORT US

  • Donate
  • Become a Partner
  • Share Your Story or Your Expertise
  • Promote Women Deserve Better

Women Deserve Better: For us, that means better information, better support, and better choices. Life brings challenges. We bring empowerment, because we’ll never underestimate women.

Copyright © 2023 — Feminists for Life of America • All rights reserved.