Family Friendly Workplace Day All workers - in and out of the home should get a break!

Published: Tuesday, February 27, 2001

'The National Women's Council of Ireland (NWCI) is encouraging its staff to take a few hours out of the working day on March 1st to spend time with families or loved ones' declared its Chairwoman Gráinne Healy. 'We hope that employers all over the country will honour this day and support their workers to engage in family-friendly activities' she continued.

'We believe that the term family-friendly should be interpreted in the broadest possible way to incorporate the creation of a healthy work-life balance' she added. Ms. Healy went on to say that in the current economic boom one of the greatest dangers is an increasing tendency for workers to live to work rather than work to live.

'The NWCI welcomes very much Family-Friendly Workplace Day, particularly for women, who according to the recent Ark Life, AIB's Life and Pensions national survey, continue to do most of the housework regardless of their employment status' stated Ms. Healy. That survey revealed that women working full-time in the home spend an average of 81 hours per week on childcare and domestic duties and women who work outside of the home still spend an average of 62 hours on household tasks. 'Family-Friendly Workplace Day is targeted at employers and employees' continued Ms. Healy. 'The reorganisation of responsibilities around family and home duties is fundamental to the creation of a genuinely family-friendly society' she said.

'The NWCI has been lobbying for family-friendly practices in the workplace for many years and sincerely hopes that today is not simply a token gesture. We support the shift towards a work-life balance in the workplace' concluded Ms. Healy.