Culture & Entertainment

Marissa Mayer's work from home ban: Should parents care?

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Culture & Entertainment

Marissa Mayer's work from home ban: Should parents care?

Marissa Mayer, the Yahoo! CEO who may be best known for taking the top job when five months pregnant -- and who took only two weeks maternity leave -- made headlines this week for instituting a work-from-home ban. Yahoo! employees must make plans to be back in the office for June. Over at the Huffington Post, Lisa Belkin's written a thought-provoking post about why she thinks Marissa Mayer's work-from-office policy is a bad move. Full disclosure: I work from home about one day a week (not every week, but most) and I've already written that I occasionally do when my kids are sick. I really appreciate the flexibility, and because my commute is about an hour, on those days I find it helps my work-life balance. I'm a fan. That said, I think Lisa Belkin's post gives the wrong impression. I don't work from home because I have kids or because I have things to take care of from home on that day. I work from home because it saves me the commuting time and because, frankly, it gives me one day with fewer interruptions at my desk and I can focus on...the work itself. Working from home occasionally is incredibly helpful for parents to deal with professional activity days for kids old enough to amuse themselves, or the occasional sick day or that kind of thing. I am not saying otherwise, and I am very fortunate to have that flexibility. But I am also a firm believer in full-time daycare and that when you are working from home...you're working. The success of work-from-home policies should be measured by the work. Workplace flexibility is important for all people, whether they are caring for aging parents, a pet or kids. But that can be coming in early and leaving early, or a generous sick leave policy or any number of things. I do believe in the power of technology to allow many of us to work from home -- but I don't think it's necessarily a parenting issue. What do you think? Do you work from home? Looking for a stay-at-home job? We've got ideas!    

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Marissa Mayer's work from home ban: Should parents care?

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