User:Aam156/sandbox

Article evaluation: National partnership for reinventing government
After reading the “National Partnership for Reinventing Government” article I can tell the original contributors spent a lot of time trying to meet the requirements of Wikipedia and in my opinion they did. Wikipedia uses their five-pillar mantra to establish a safe place for people across the world to share accurate information. Using the five-pillar system I was able to evaluate this article in the eyes of a true Wikipedian. If someone wanted to know more about National Partnership in Reinventing Government this Wikipedia page would have all the information they would need. The most important part of any research is having reliable sources and that is the first thing I checked when I went to the page. There were several resources that helped in making this page credible most coming from academic journals or unbiased websites. This article was extremely well written and I wasn’t distracted from anything the original contributors wrote. They stayed on topic and made this page easy to read which I appreciate. The contributors maintained a bias viewpoint and did lean on one side or another, which is another important part of the five-pillar system.

As I continued reading this article I wanted to make sure that most of the citations were up to date and the link were working which they all were. I’m not sure if all the information is up to date because I’m not too familiar with this topic but nothing caught my eye. Each part of this page has enough information for the topic it is about and nothing is over or under represented. When it is time for my group to edit this information I think our job will be to just more details to the topics. The original contributors created a solid base for us, and our job will be to refine and polish the information to make it better for future readers.

Article evaluation: Work-life balance in the United States
The Wikipedia article “Work-life Balance in the United States” is written well. I know we are supposed to evaluate our article but I can’t help but compare it to my other article in 3316. Work-life balance was missing more content than my other article. The first thing I did for both articles was making sure that it has reliable references. Work-life balance has only 5 sources, which to me isn’t enough. I think this topic needs to have a lot more sources being that is this a very important conversation for families across the not only the United States but the world. With the addition to my groups resources I believe this article will be even more reliable. The original contributors made this article easy to read and I appreciate seeing the break down of a few laws that contribute to work-life balance but I feel like there are ore out there. When it is time for us to edit I would like to add more laws that deal with work-life balance. Another thing I feel that is missing is information on unions. I would like to know what the average white-collar worker thoughts and it would contribute to creating more depth in the article.

I was able to navigate smoothly throughout the page and the main contributor to that are the citations. All of them worked and sent me to the corresponding Wiki page. This is a good article but there are a few things I would like to add or change for the betterment of this page. I would like the reader to feel completely knowledgeable on the topic and that is something I didn’t completely feel while reading. The overall content was good but hopefully my group can add more information and revise the writing to make it even better.

Annotated Bibliography: Work-Life Balance in the United States
Munn, S.L. ( 1 ), and S. ( 2 ) Chaudhuri. "Work–Life Balance: A Cross-Cultural Review Of Dual-Earner Couples In India And The United States." Advances In Developing Human Resources 18.1 (2016): 54-68. Scopus®. Web. 27 Oct. 2016.

I was excited to come across this article because it was information that was missing in our Wikipedia article. The article covers dual-earning couples in the U.S. and India. Although our topic is about work life balance in the United States I think comparing U.S. and Indian lifestyles will give the reader of our article better perspective. The author of this work also pointed out what it is like for a couple to maintain a work and home life. This article interprets that this is an issue across the world and what policies or practices that need to be placed for workers everywhere.

Phipps, Simone, and Leon Prieto. "A Discovery Of Early Labor Organizations And The Women Who Advocated Work-Life Balance: An Ethical Perspective." Journal Of Business Ethics 134.2 (2016): 249-261. Business Source Complete. Web. 27 Oct. 2016.

This article identifies with the modern term “work-life balance”. I was excited to read this article because it gave me a brief history of work-life balance and how it is a modern struggle. The author uses an ethics approach by communicating the history of labor unions and labor problems in American history. Another bonus of this article is that it also covers the topic of women in the work force and the struggles they face to maintain their important role at home and work. Our Wikipedia article didn’t cover women and the role they played in the history of labor issues and I feel that our article needs to pay homage to work they have done.

Brenner, Johanna. "Hours For What We Will." Dissent (00123846) 63.4 (2016): 53-56. Education Source. Web. 27 Oct. 2016.

This work was created with the intent of feminist studies however this is a topic that applies to everyone. The journal begins with a quote the quote “a woman is handicapped by her sex”. I just skimmed this journal for research but after I was done I really understood what Kathi Weeks, the author, was trying to communicate. Women have often been punished and forced to choose whether they want career or a family. Weeks compared the modern woman to Mrs. Betty Friedan a feminist writer in 1963. The careers that woman had during that time would merely be seen as jobs now for the modern day working woman. Men and women are doing the same jobs but somehow women are having less free time then men. In time were single parenting is common, free time is important for any working person. There is an extra responsibility of balancing home life with working life for women and Weeks uncovers this paradox. I want to incorporate this issue into the Wiki article because I think it’s important for people to know the double standards of work-life balance in the United States.

Emond, Astrid E. "Work-Life Balance." OD Practitioner 48.3 (2016): 74-75. Business Source Ultimate. Web. 27 Oct. 2016.

This article follows the comparisons of work-life balance in the U.S. and Germany. I think it is important to understand how we work as a nation compared to other countries across the globe. After researching this topic this article has definitely proved that the American mindset on working is very different than others across the globe. Unlike my other articles this one has some focus on what the governments job is during this work-life balance issue. Countries like Germany are involving the government more than we are here in the states. While we continue long hours they are looking for ways to improve the conditions of workers and their work and home life.

Fullerton, Jami A, and Alice Kendrick. "Perceptions Of Work/Life Balance Among U.S. Advertising Students: A Study Of Gender Differences." Advertising & Society Review 4 (2014): Project MUSE. Web. 27 Oct. 2016.

Unlike my other sources this article focuses on college students and their expectation of what their career will be life after college. They were participating in a national survey with a focus on 4 main pillars, balance, parting, career now and work obligation. I was excited to hear from a college student’s perspective because they are new to the work force and many don’t have past experience in the working world. They showed the differences in college men and women and how women do have a “want it all” mindset for their careers while men choose work more. I want to add this into the Wiki article but I’m not sure how to maintain a bias approach. I know Molly and I both want to touch on women so hopefully my group can help me with the writing.

Annotated Bibliography National Partnership reinventing Government
Shiramizu, Sharilyn, and Amarjit Singh. "Influence Of The National Performance Review On Supervisors In Government Organizations." Leadership & Management In Engineering 6.4 (2006): 150-159. Business Source Complete. Web. 27 Oct. 2016.

This article follows the history of the NPR and how it actually effected management in government organizations. I choose this source because unlike my other sources it shows how the NPR was implemented and the difference it made. Our article covers the history of the NPR pretty well and I would like to expand on the topic of management and what it was like transitioning into this method.

Lowery, David. "The Presidency, The Bureaucracy, And Reinvention: A Gentle Plea For Chaos." Presidential Studies Quarterly 30.1 (2000): 79-108. Social Sciences Full Text (H.W. Wilson). Web. 27 Oct. 2016.

Author David Lowery goes in depth about the NPR and their strategy and used the research to try to find the true dynamics of the executive-bureaucratic relationships. He argues that NPR digressed from the original reinventing theory and what the outcome what have been if reinvention was taken more seriously. I wanted to use this in our Wiki article because I think it’s important to know that maybe the original concept of the NPR might have changed over time.

Dixon, John. "Reinventing Government: The Gore Vision And The Australian Reality." Public Productivity & Management Review 19.(1996): 338-362. Business Abstracts with Full Text (H.W. Wilson). Web. 27 Oct. 2016.

I was excited to come across this article because it compared Gore’s vision to reinvent government to Australia’s reality. This article broke down how Australia’s strategy to reform federal civil service and basically the lessons we in the U.S. should have learned from them. John Dixon the author of this article broke down the different departments and that would need change and pointed out that there would have to be willingness to change for the NPR to be effective.

Jasper, Herbert N., and Anita F. Alpern. "National Performance Review: The Good, The Bad, The Indifferent." Public Manager 23.(1994): 27-34. Business Abstracts with Full Text (H.W. Wilson). Web. 2 Nov. 2016.

This article identifies the pros and cons of the NPR. When the NPR was first introduced civil servants across the country were excited however the implementation would determine if this reform would be successful or not. There were many issues that that were presented in this article like the willingness to change in Congress and its relationship with the executive branch.

Meacham, Jon. "What Al Gore Might Learn The Hard Way." Washington Monthly 25.9 (1993): 16. MasterFILE Complete. Web. 2 Nov. 2016.

Author Jon Meacham discusses Al Gore’s effort and plan to reinvent government. Meacham focus on Gore’s campaign against end of the fiscal year spending and the simplification of government job classification. I liked this article because it focused on the outcomes of the reform and not the inputs.

Outline for Work-Life Balance in the United States
Team: Do Not Handle Bats

Alexa Moore (aam156)

Justin Villa (jmv81)

Ke’Ana Jones (keke_j)

Molly Coryell (mjc143)

Angeles Blanco (Blanco52294)

Proposed Revisions
 * 1 United States history: we are not adding new information to this section, just simply reformatting the information for aesthetic purposes
 * ADD: ·

Agricultural Work- 1800-1850
This will be the first time period our article covers. The first sentence of our article now says “The first enforceable hours' law in the United States was in 1874 when Massachusetts enacted a law which limited the amount of time that women and children could work each week.” We would like to change this sentence to how the workweek in America is hard to distinguish until after the Civil War in America. Most workers did not document their workweek and it was hard to distinguish between leisure work and work because most people worked from home. ( https://eh.net/encyclopedia/hours-of-work-in-u-s-history/ ). An introduction like this will better because it will help the article flow better. ·        In the original article the author talks about how in the agriculture period “Ten-hour workdays were accepted in the agriculture industry during certain seasons and six-day workweeks were not unheard of”. We would like to add that prior to the Civil War, work hours for agricultural workers increased between 11%- 18% because of an increase in dairy and livestock ( https://eh.net/encyclopedia/hours-of-work-in-u-s-history/ ). This will be the only information for this time period because there is not much information.

Industrial Work-life 1850’s-1970
(in this section the psychology will be enhanced as well) The transition sentence into this time period of work in the United States    will be: After the Civil War work in America started to change. Agriculture    no longer moved the economy of America. Manufacturing became the driving    force of America’s economy. This drastically changed what work meant to Americans    because now people were required to be at work a certain amount of time     before they could go home. ( http://www.localhistories.org/work.html )    ( https://eh.net/encyclopedia/hours-of-work-in-u-s-history/ ). Industrialization demanded more    workers into the workforce as industrial technologies advanced. The size of the    Nation’s workforce increased roughly six fold during the 20th century. The    workforce registered 24 million in 1900 with those aged 10 and above reporting     a gainful occupation. ( http://www.bls.gov/opub/mlr/cwc/american-labor-in-the-20th-century.pdf )     ·        The average workweek changed dramatically as industrialization became the driving force of the economy. In 1900, the average workweek in manufacturing was 53 hours. ( http://www.bls.gov/opub/mlr/cwc/american-labor-in-the-20th-century.pdf ) '''The early twentieth century laid the groundwork for the idea of work-life balance. Advancements in social sciences would move the focus towards the impact of long hours on the physical and mental health of the employee'''. ·        We would also like to talk about the great depression and World War I and how these two events tremendously changed the workweek in America. During the Great Depression, the average number of hours per workweek for production workers in manufacturing dropped as low as 34.6. During World War II, it rose to 45.2 hours at one point. After the War, it stabilized at about 40 hours per week. The normal range for the four decades after World War II was 39 to 41 hours per week, but the factory workweek exceeded 41 hours for most of the 1992-1999 period ( http://www.bls.gov/opub/mlr/cwc/american-labor-in-the-20th-century.pdf )  ·        We would also like to talk about how during the Industrial time period the work week became Monday-Friday because of Ford: In 1926, Ford Motor Company became one of the first companies in America to adopt a five-day, 40-hour week for workers in its automotive factories. The policy would be extended to Ford’s office workers the following August. Henry Ford said of the decision: “It is high time to rid ourselves of the notion that leisure for workmen is either ‘lost time’ or a class privilege.” At Ford’s own admission, however, the five-day workweek was also instituted in order to increase productivity: Though workers’ time on the job had decreased, they were expected to expend more effort while they were there. Manufacturers all over the country, and the world, soon followed Ford’s lead, and the Monday-to-Friday workweek became standard practice ( http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/ford-factory-workers-get-40-hour-week ). This also touches on the psychology of the work week being shorter.

Informational Work-life 1970 - Present

 * The original authors of this article already have a lot of good information about this time period of work-life balance in the United States. This is a time period where laws are already set for labor in the United States, but now government (federal and state levels) is trying to figure out a way to incorporate everybody, especially women and single mothers. (I think this is where the information about women should be added. There is a lot of this stuff in the book).
 * The work-life field can trace its roots in    two related areas. The first was a focus on childcare programs that were a     direct result of the increasing number of professional women entering the     workforce in the 1970’s and 1980’s. The second was an extension of the     Employee Assistance Programs (EAP) that were introduced in many companies in     the 1970’s. Organizations that evolved from a work/family perspective     began with a focus on working mothers and the need for quality childcare.     Organizations that evolved from an EAP perspective identified the early     links between employee stress, depression and illness, and decreased     productivity. https://www2.bc.edu/~harrinb/Docs/Publications/Work%20Life%20Evolution%20Study%20final.pdf
 * In    the United States, estimates for national spending on depression alone are     US$ 30-40 billion, with an estimated 200 million days lost from work each     year. This is another sentence we would like to add in this section     because psychology has really affected the workweek in the information     age.  ·        The author mentions that Bakers did not win the right to work less than ten hours per day until 1905 with the court case of Lochner v. New York. We would like to add this sentence into the information Age with the following information:  The number of hours at work varies by industry sector, as well as in response to the state of the economy. In 1999, the weekly average for the total private sector was 34.5 hours; and the average for the total goods-producing sector was 41.0 hours. The retail trade sector average workweek was 29 hours, wholesale was 38.3, construction was 39.1, and mining was 43.8. Average retail trade hours, for example, have shown a fairly constant drop since 1947, as industry added more part-time workers. Mining hours, on the other hand, rose over that period. Workweeks in some sectors, such as manufacturing and construction, are impacted by changes in the economy; and many sectors, including retail trade and construction, are affected by seasonal changes. This sentence would fit best in the information age section because there are many different ways to work in this age.    ·        Information that is already in the article about this time period will be added as well which are the sentences that follow: In the late 1970s, Professor Robert Karasek of the University of Lowell (now known as University of Massachusetts Lowell) developed a method for analyzing stress-producing factors in the workplace. It has been widely employed to examine workplace pressures and their relationship with research data on coronary heart disease, musculoskeletal illnesses, psychological strain and absenteeism. Karasek explains, "In situations where an individual has high demands on him and low control, the undesirable stress of work and other situations becomes problematic."[3] The 1980s brought new complaints of work-life balance related stress. This time period was given such names as "the ME generation," "the age of narcissism" and "the pursuit of loneliness."[3] The number of cases of emotional depression in the United States was believed to have doubled between 1970 and 1990. "What you do is what you are" was the common and unhealthy assumption. According to 'The Workaholic Syndrome', written by Judith K. Sprankle and Henry Ebel, "By their sheer numbers and the consequently narrowing opportunities at every upward run of the organizational ladder, the baby-boomers have been compelled to do more, to move faster, to compete harder. They, in turn, have set the pace for other age groups. The signs of increased stress are legion and have been intensified by an economic climate that mandates that if we marry at all, we marry a working spouse."

Federal Laws in the United States Regarding Labor
The Family and Medical Leave Act of 1993 (FMLA) was signed on February 5th, 1993 under President Bill Clinton. The FMLA was a hallmark of his administration and toke effect August 5th, 1993. The law required all US employers to provide 12 weeks of unpaid sick leave and job protection during a 12 month period, to employees who qualify. The purpose of the act was to quote "to balance the demands of the workplace with the needs of families, to promote the stability and economic security of families, and to promote national interests in preserving family integrity." This became the First federal law protecting workers from termination for family or medical hardships.

State Laws Regarding Labor

 * 2.2 Massachusetts Maternity Leave Statute
 * REVISION: Move any hyper-specific information to a "state-by-state" category
 * Massachusetts enacted the Small Necessities Leave Act in    1998 which expanded upon the rights guaranteed by the FMLA.
 * 1835: Skilled workers’    strike, including carpenters, masons, and stone-cutters went on strike for     the ten-hour workday and a general strike ensued in Philadelphia. The     strikers won reduced working hours and higher wages. ( http://palaborhistorysociety.org/timeline-of-labor-history-in-pennsylvania/ )
 * 1847: New Hapmshire    enacts first state 10 hour day law.
 * Massachusetts also has a statute, known as the Wage    and Hour Law, which     creates a number of additional rights for employees regarding time off.     Massachusetts law requires employers to provide a thirty-minute meal break     to every employee who works more than six hours a day; it does not require     that the meal break be paid. Another form of time off from work that is     governed by the statute is the creation of "legal holidays."
 * 2.3 Wage and Hour Law and "Day of Rest" Statute
 * 2.4 Short- and long-term disability    (DO YOU MEAN SOCIAL SECURITY?)
 * 2.5 Exemption status

Gender and Work-Life Balance
(summarize/justify addition)
 * (Brief description of addition) (Cite)

Psychology
(summarize/justify addition)

Occupational burnout Occurs when the worker experiences exhaustion, disengagement, and cynicism of their work place. Recovery time is the most effective way to mitigate Occupational burnout. Burnout is most commonly found in professions that require long hours and involve interacting with others, for example teachers, lawyers, and police officers.

Comparison to other countries
(summarize/justify addition) A.     Lifestyle and traditional values. (I think it is important to note the difference in lifestyles between the United States and other nations that maintain a good work-life balance) 1. U.S. lifestyle and traditions. 2.      Top European countries that have a good work-life balance and their lifestyle, traditions and family values. B.     Governmental intervention of work-life balance in European nations. 1.      What European countries identify with different welfare states (Conservative, Social Democratic and Liberal) and how that has affected their involvement in work-life balance. 2.      Policies European nations have adopted like paid maternal leave that have promoted a healthier work-life balance. C.     Work Practices. 1.      European countries work practices used to promote a better work-life balance like flex time, childcare services and remote working. D.     Insert chart of ranking of nations and their work-life balance. ("Work-Life Balance." OECD Better Life Index. N.p., n.d. Web. 14 Nov. 2016.)

Timetable  Article Rough Draft 

*** This is the entire article, add your revisions, additions, and references in this so we can transfer it to the live article by Monday at 9:00AM

= Work–life balance in the United States = From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Work–life balance is having enough time for work and enough to have a life, thus the work life balance. Related, though broader, terms include "lifestyle balance" and "life balance".

Contents

 * 1 United States history
 * 2 Laws and policies
 * 2.1 Family and Medical Leave Act
 * 2.2 Small Necessities Leave Act
 * 2.3 Massachusetts Maternity Leave Statute
 * 2.4 Wage and Hour Law and "Day of Rest" Statute
 * 2.5 Short- and long-term disability
 * 2.6 Exemption status


 * 3 Gender and work-life balance
 * 4 Psychology
 * 5 Country Comparison
 * 6 See also
 * 7 References

United States history
The first enforceable hours' law in the United States was in 1874 when Massachusetts enacted a law which limited the amount of time that women and children could work each week.[1] This limit was set at sixty hours per week. Similar laws were later adopted by about half of the country's states. Only men in exceptionally hazardous jobs were covered in early legislation and most had no limit to the number of hours their employers could have them work.

Ten-hour workdays were accepted in the agriculture industry during certain seasons and six-day workweeks were not unheard of. Bakers did not win the right to work less than ten hours per day until 1905 with the court case of Lochner v. New York.

The general presumption during this period was that the courts would allow regulation of labor concerning women and children, who were thought to be incapable of bargaining on an equal footing with employers and in special need of protection. Men were allowed freedom of contract unless it could be proven that regulating their hours served a higher good for the population at large.[1]

During the turn of the twentieth century, the push for an eight-hour workday was geared primarily toward raising the hourly wage. The idea was that by maintaining the current weekly pay while lowering working hours, a fairer rate of pay would result. The slogan, "Whether you work by the piece or work by the day, decreasing the hours increases the pay," seemed to carry the mood of the day.[1]

The early twentieth century laid the groundwork for the idea of work-life balance. Advancements in social sciences would move the focus towards the impact of long hours on the physical and mental health of the employee.

At this time, however, the new information was used to enhance productivity for the company. The shorter hours movement began to focus on the fact that an overworked employee is more prone to injury or mistake and becomes less productive. Josephine Goldmark wrote a book in 1912 detailing this fact and the Federal Public Works Act was passed the same year.

This new act required a 40-hour workweek for employees of government contracted firms. Over the next ten years, the government passed legislation requiring a 40-hour work week for individual industries nearly every time the issue arose in court.[1]

When the employees of the steel industry failed to obtain a reduction from their 84-hour work week in 1919, the industry soon allowed their employees an eight-hour workday, a four-hour-per-day reduction—a move brought about by much "arm-twisting" on the part of President Harding.[1]

By the 1920s, the average work week was fifty hours and was considered a great stride and well-earned award for America's working man. (Whaples) The push for fewer hours had come to a close, but they had one more hurdle to overcome. The new concentration was on the ability to work half a day on Saturdays or have the day off completely. The ability to have two days of rest was unprecedented, but was considered vital to finalize an ethical work schedule. Pressure was put on businesses to make the change, especially in industries and cities with a large number of Jewish workers (since the Jewish Sabbath is on Saturday), and they finally achieved this goal by the end of the decade. Where only thirty-two firms had a five-day workweek in 1920, nearly half had adopted the practice by 1927.[1]

Their success was short-lived. In the 1920s, the workers were coaxed into believing that they wanted to work longer hours and that they would be harmed by measures that limited how many hours they were allowed to work. Social scientists would later name this force the "gospel of consumption." Beginning in the 1920s, advertisers persuaded Americans that happiness would not come from leisure time, but from purchasing commodities, and he concluded that this made it easier for managers to "allow" workers to make more money by working longer hours.[1]

Social scientists would conclude that a new work ethic began as Americans left the psychology of scarcity and adopted one of abundance. Some argue that this mentality of consumption or "consumerism" persists to this day.[1]

During the twentieth century, the average workweek has changed drastically. In 1900, the average workweek in manufacturing was approximately fifty-three hours. However, the workweek is responsive to business conditions. During the Great Depression, the average number of hours for production workers in manufacturing dropped to 34.6 each week. During World War II, hours worked rose to forty-five each week.

The normal range of hours worked during the four decades after World War II was thirty-nine to forty-one hours; (Whaples) however, starting in the 1990s, factory workweek hours began to exceed forty-one hours. As previously mentioned, Americans work approximately 47.1 hours each week; some employees work up to seventy hours. Therefore, it is safe to state that the average number of hours Americans presently work each week is the highest it has been in nearly seventy-five years.

In 1900, only nineteen percent of women of working age were in the labor force. In 1999 sixty percent of women worked outside the home. Even if the hours worked were slightly higher at the turn of the century, most households were supported by one paycheck. "In 1900, eighty percent of American children had a working father and a stay-at-home mother; however, by 1999, that figure was only twenty-four percent."[2]

During the Great Depression, working hours were reduced. By 1932, approximately fifty percent of Americans were working a shortened work week. Instead of reducing wages, employers decided to lay off many workers and attempted to protect the employees that remained by encouraging them to job share.

President Hoover's Commission for Work Sharing pushed voluntary hours reductions, and it is estimated that nearly three to five million jobs had been saved. (Whaples) Companies such as Sears, General Motors, and Standard Oil reduced the number of days worked each week, and Akron began a six-hour workday. The AFL began to call for a federally mandated 30-hour workweek.[1]

By 1933, some experts were predicting that the "thirty-hour workweek was within a month of becoming federal law."[1] Congress began hearings on mandating the 30-hour workweek, and the Senate even passed the bill (which was written by Hugo Black and sponsored in the House by William Connery) fifty-three to thirty.

Newly elected President, Franklin Roosevelt initially supported the bill, but had second thoughts when he realized that the bill had a provision to forbid importation of goods produced by workers who worked longer than thirty hours a week. Instead, Roosevelt began to support the National Industrial Recovery Act. Labor leaders were encouraged to support the NIRA instead of the Black-Connery Thirty-Hour Bill with a guarantee of union organization and collective bargaining. With the threat of a mandated 30-hour work week, businesses "fell into line."[1] When specifics codes for the NIRA were drawn up, shorter hours were no longer a genuine concern.[1]

After the Great Depression ended, the average weekly hours worked began to rise. (According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, in 1934 the average hours worked each week was approximately thirty-four hours). During World War II, hours increased by approximately ten hours a week but, in the aftermath of the war, weekly work hours averaged forty hours.[1]

With automation of the workplace in "full swing" by the 1970s, large numbers of women began entering the work force and an "awareness of stress rose to the forefront".[3] In the publication Type A Behavior and Your Heart, cardiologists Meyer Friedman and Ray H. Rosenman wrote about the "hurry sickness" common to "workaholics"—people who had no friends and who "never relaxed or went to museums".[3]

In the late 1970s, Professor Robert Karasek of the University of Lowell (now known as University of Massachusetts Lowell) developed a method for analyzing stress-producing factors in the workplace. It has been widely employed to examine workplace pressures and their relationship with research data on coronary heart disease, musculoskeletal illnesses, psychological strain and absenteeism. Karasek explains, "In situations where an individual has high demands on him and low control, the undesirable stress of work and other situations becomes problematic."[3]

The 1980s brought new complaints of work-life balance related stress. This time period was given such names as "the ME generation," "the age of narcissism" and "the pursuit of loneliness."[3] The number of cases of emotional depression in the United States was believed to have doubled between 1970 and 1990.

"What you do is what you are" was the common and unhealthy assumption. According to 'The Workaholic Syndrome', written by Judith K. Sprankle and Henry Ebel, "By their sheer numbers and the consequently narrowing opportunities at every upward run of the organizational ladder, the baby-boomers have been compelled to do more, to move faster, to compete harder. They, in turn, have set the pace for other age groups. The signs of increased stress are legion and have been intensified by an economic climate that mandates that if we marry at all, we marry a working spouse."[3]

In the late 1980s, the "computer revolution" was not only responsible for corporate downsizing, but also increased the demand of employee output. Social critic Jeremy Rifkin states, "Back in the agriculture-based society, people were more attuned to generatively,[3] and middle-stress disorders and diseases of affluence were not part of life. They weren't triggered until the Industrial Age, and now the Information Age has worsened them. Nowadays, instead of seconds, it's nanoseconds. We have moved from designing a schedule that real people can execute in whatever time it takes them, to a program which people can monitor but can't affect."[3]

In the 1980s, the number of workers' compensation claims for "gradual mental stress" began to rise. Claims rose from 1,844 cases in 1981 to 15,688 in 1999 in the state of California alone. Because of the large number of cases as well as evidence of numerous cases of fraud, efforts were made in the early 1990s to reform the workers compensation program. Led by Republican Governor of California Pete Wilson and Democratic Party State assembly Speaker Willie Brown, the new law stated that claimants had to prove that stress was at least 51 percent of the reason for their illness.[3]

Unfortunately, because of these reforms some feel that it is now extremely difficult to be approved for workers compensation. John Burton, dean of the school of management and labor relations at Rutgers University feels that part of the reason for the decline is that "a number of states made it difficult to get stress into the system.

So even if the stress is out there, it's not showing up (in the compensation statistics). Some of it shows up in the rising violence, which is a crude proxy for the stress out there."[3]

Family and Medical Leave Act
The 1990s saw the introduction of additional laws designed to help the American worker. One current law that guarantees employees time off is the Family and Medical Leave Act of 1993. According to the Family and Medical Leave Act, any "eligible" employee is entitled to twelve weeks of leave for immediate family member need and medical reasons during a twelve-month period. An employee's spouse, children, and parents are considered immediate family.

The term "parent" does not include an employee's in-laws or children over the age of eighteen unless they are "incapable of self-care" because of mental or physical disability that limits one or more of the "major life activities."[4] Employees are eligible to take FMLA leave if they have worked for their employer for at least twelve months, have worked for at least 1,250 hours during the previous twelve months, and have worked at a company with a minimum of fifty employees that work either at that work site or at work sites within a seventy-five mile radius.

Employers may select one of four options for determining the required twelve-month period. They can decide to determine eligibility by the calendar year, by any fixed twelve-month "leave year" such as a fiscal year, a year required by state law, or a year starting on the employee's "anniversary" date, by the twelve-month period measured forward from the date when an employee's first FMLA leave begins, or by a "rolling" twelve-month period measured backward from the date an employee uses FMLA leave.

Pregnancy disability leave or maternity leave for the birth of a child would be considered qualifying FMLA leave. This law, however, does not guarantee paid time off; the FMLA only requires unpaid leave. However, the law permits an employee to elect, or the employer to require the employee, to use accrued paid leave, such as vacation or sick leave, for some or all of the FMLA leave period. It is unlawful for any employer to deny the right of any eligible employee the use of FMLA leave.[4]

Small Necessities Leave Act
In addition to the Family Leave and Medical Act, there are many other federal and state statutes that allow employees legal time off from work. Massachusetts enacted the Small Necessities Leave Act in 1998 which expanded upon the rights guaranteed by the FMLA.

The Small Necessities Leave Act allows eligible employees a total of twenty-four hours of unpaid leave during any twelve-month period, "over and above" the leave granted by the FMLA. This act allows an employee to participate in school activities directly related to the "educational advancement" of his/her child. This includes parent-teacher conferences, "back to school" activities, and even interviewing for a new school.

The term "school" includes any public or private elementary or secondary schools, Head Start programs, and licensed children's day care centers. (Gallitano) The SNLA also allows employees to attend routine medical or dental appointments with their children. In addition, the employee is allowed to accompany an "elderly relative" to medical or dental appointments or any other services that provide professional services related to elder care. (The elderly relative must be at least sixty years old and be related by blood or marriage to the employee) The SNLA includes time off to arrange for professional care at a nursing home or rehabilitation facility.

The eligibility required for leave under the Small Necessities Leave Act is the same as for eligibility under the Family and Medical Leave Act and, like the FMLA, the employer is permitted to choose the method for determining which twelve-month period will apply when calculating the twenty-four hours of leave that may be taken by the employee. Leaves of absences can be taken intermittently.

For example, if the employee needs to take off two hours in the morning to attend a parent-teacher conference, the employer may not require the employee to take time off in blocks of half or full days. Also, the employer is given the option of requesting certification (from a physician or school, for example) for leave requests.[5]

Massachusetts Maternity Leave Statute
Massachusetts created the Massachusetts Maternity Leave Statute in 1972. This law provides eight weeks of leave to female employees who have met certain criteria. This statute applies to all employers having six or more employees. Those eligible under the Massachusetts statute must be full-time employees who have completed three months of work. It also applies when an eligible female adopts a child under eighteen years old (or under twenty three if the child is mentally or physically disabled). The employer can decide if this leave will be paid or unpaid. If the leave is unpaid, the employer must permit the employee to use accrued paid sick, vacation, or personal time, but the employer may not require the employee to use that accrued time.[5]

Wage and Hour Law and "Day of Rest" Statute
Massachusetts also has a statute, known as the Wage and Hour Law, which creates a number of additional rights for employees regarding time off. Massachusetts law requires employers to provide a thirty-minute meal break to every employee who works more than six hours a day; it does not require that the meal break be paid. Another form of time off from work that is governed by the statute is the creation of "legal holidays."

Massachusetts law presently includes eleven legal holidays. If employees are required to work on a legal holiday (such as retail employees) they must be paid at a rate of one and a half times their normal pay rate. Massachusetts also has a "Day of Rest" statute that provides that all employees are entitled to one day off from work in seven calendar days.[5]

Short- and long-term disability
Many employers offer short and /or long term disability to their employees. These plans offer wage replacement benefits for employees who are not able to work based on a physical or mental condition. There are no laws requiring an employer to grant paid vacations to its employees in Massachusetts. However, nearly all employers provide paid vacation benefits in some form in order to remain competitive.

Exemption status
Besides the different compensation structures between exempt and nonexempt workers (for example, exempt employees are excluded from minimum wage and are paid a salary rather than minimum wage; whereas, nonexempt employees must be paid at least the federal minimum wage for each hour worked), there are differences in overtime requirements and expectations.

Exempt employees are usually expected to work the number of hours necessary to complete their tasks, regardless of whether that requires thirty-five or fifty-five hours per week. On the other hand, nonexempt employees must be paid overtime if they work more than forty hours per week. If an exempt employee's "tasks" are extensive and time consuming, he/she is required to put in an indeterminable number of hours at the workplace. If staying late or coming in early is required to do the job, exempt employees are frequently expected to do just that. This could cut down on the amount of time he/she has for family, friends, or leisure activities, increase stress, and could even lead to burnout.

Gender and work-life balance
Women’s participation in the U.S. labor force climbed during the 1970s and 1980s, reaching 60 percent in 2000. Women are 50 percent more likely to work in the public sector. Women surpass men on education attainment among those employed aged 25 and over: 37.1 percent of women hold at least a bachelor’s degree compared to 34.9 percent for men. Women are still paid less than men at every educational level and in every job category. They are less likely than men to hold jobs that offer flexibility or family-friendly benefits. When they become mothers, they face more scrutiny and prejudice on the job than fathers do.

Back in the 1990s about 41 percent of men were not offered unpaid leave related to family reasons or sick leave. In the past fathers have encountered denied same parental allowance as what their wives have in the workplace. Because fathers are denied same parental leave or allowance as their wives, work places run into legal issues. Many fathers are denied family leave to care for their newborn and wife. It is not fair that fathers are not allowed to leave for family or medical care reasons. This is an issue in the work-life in the United States; in some jobs men cannot balance their father and husbands’ role because of their workplace will not allow them to. Fathers should have the right in workplaces to leave work for family care to attend their family. It is understandable if family leave for males and females are denied such as (not getting paid for it after working comp time) because the economy is in bad shape but the government needs to address this problem for family reasons. It is important to support having a world where workplaces are so inclusive and supportive that both men and women can thrive at work and do anything they want.

Many men in management positions are still viewing how work life balance is a women issue and not important to addressed. Men need to help address the issue of gender equity because it is equally fair treatment for both men and women in the work-place. Gender equality can help eliminate violence against women. Gender equality can make good business sense in improving labor environment within the firm. Better communication between management and workers, increase number of women in managerial positions and reduction in maternity-related discrimination. Workplace gender equality is achieved when people are able to access and enjoy the same rewards, resources and opportunities regardless of gender. Both men and women lead in different ways. We can help acknowledge and reward different leadership styles. Leaders can improve equality at their business and reap manifold reward of diversity.

Studies show the paid family leave and paid sick days are the issues women care about over any other work-life policy issue (Applebaum). In a poll conducted in November 2008, 35% of women felt that issues in work-life balance for women would be best addressed through paid family leave and sick days (Applebaum). Both genders actually feel that these concerns better address work-life balance with growing concerns of watching children, older family members, and ill family members (Applebaum).