Author Archive
Posted August 2nd, 2011 by Joan C. Williams
While New York Times columnist Thomas Friedman recently described the Tea Party as an American Hezbollah, Islamic terrorists would not have much clout without their funders in Saudi Arabia and Iran. So, too, the Republican right would be impotent without its behind-the-scenes creators. A small number of incredibly wealthy businessmen — the principle beneficiaries of [...]
Posted July 25th, 2011 by Joan C. Williams
Last Monday, unions and employers came together to make work-life balance a reality for hourly workers. The common assumption is that workplace flexibility is impractical for hourly workers. Not so: On Monday, models emerged to offer workplace flexibility in three contexts where it might seem impossible: health care, restaurants and small business. Jennifer Piallat, owner [...]
Posted July 19th, 2011 by Joan C. Williams
Google +, Google’s new social network, was launched last month to much fanfare as an invitation-only service. According to early data, membership in the first few weeks was a much as 90% male. Now it’s more like a 75/25 split – better, but nowhere near parity. A popular meme earlier this week compared the service [...]
Posted April 22nd, 2011 by Joan C. Williams
Even before I read about it in The New York Times, I heard about the decision of Kansas City federal district judge Eric F. Melgren, scolding lawyers who had refused the request of opposing counsel to reschedule a trial on the grounds that a key attorney’s wife was scheduled to have a baby. The backstory: In [...]
Posted January 31st, 2011 by Joan C. Williams
Cross-posted from New Deal 2.0. I have been watching Clint Eastwood films lately and thinking about his role in fueling the belittlement of government. In Dirty Harry, for example, the Eastwood character is a loner who stands up to lily-livered bureaucrats who lack the cojones to do what needs to be done and to morally [...]
Posted January 14th, 2011 by Joan C. Williams
This article originally appeared on New Deal 2.0. Sunday’s New York Times reported that accounting firms lead corporate America in offering workplace flexibility. Employees can reduce their hours, take the summer off, take off a few years and then return to their prior jobs… whatever they need. And the firms are committed to ensuring that [...]
Posted September 13th, 2010 by Joan C. Williams
A grandfather who worked for a large retailer was ordered to work mandatory overtime. He refused: he had to get home to care for his grandchild so his son, who had custody, could get to work. Father and son worked different shifts so each could care for the child while the other was at work. [...]
Posted August 31st, 2010 by Joan C. Williams
When I decided to leave my job of 25 years and move with my family to San Francisco, my husband told me he was going to talk with the Chair of his Board and resign a job he loved. I suggested an alternative. “Why don’t you say, I am staying with the organization, but I’m [...]
Posted August 4th, 2010 by Joan C. Williams
This July marked the sixth anniversary of the nation’s first state law that provides comprehensive paid family leave. Passed in 2002 and in effect since July 2004, California’s paid family leave insurance program provides most workers with six weeks a year of partial pay (55% of wages up to a weekly max — $987 per [...]
Posted February 7th, 2010 by Joan C. Williams
The PoorKim Braithwaite was making progress. She was working two jobs to support her two children, 9-year old Justina and 1-year-old Justin. But on October 12, 2003, she faced a dilemma: her babysitter was late. Kim would be tardy for her shift at McDonald’s if she delayed and she worried that she would be fired. [...]
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