said by Styvas:It's a life balance thing, and employers would be wise to recognize that accommodating that balance, even if it means small sacrifices like letting a guy go early to pick up his kids on a Friday, will lead to happier, more productive employees.
It's not that employers shouldn't accomodate people. I have hourly guys who report to me (days & afternoons) and within reason I'm willing to play around with in early/late, make up time, etc. As long as I'm not behind the gun on something I'm pretty flexible. I'm also one of the few dept. managers that never has an issue getting people to stay / work extra etc. I suspect that the flexibility and a good relationship gets me the second part.
Generally the problem comes with salaried employees is that give and take isn't evenly applied. It's not unusual in my case to work extra hours (here in the plant) and I usually answer customer inquiries if they come in at night. If I'm watching TV it helps me the next day if I answer right away. From time to time (if schedule permits) I'll cut out early on a Friday. (I should note that early for me is basically after everyone has left, but technically before my quitting time.) However, I've never said 'I didn't take a lunch' so I'm going home early. If they did that for one person, why not all?
I'd be willing to bet (no matter how few employees) that there's always one salaried person who comes in just a few minutes late and runs out the door on the clock. Not likely for any good reason, but just because they get away with it. I've worked with many women and men with kids, and it's always just one person. I know where I was working a couple of years ago enough people took advantage of bad weather days that suddenly everyone had to make up time. Some people could work at home (which they had been doing) and were told that they couldn't.