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Non-parents getting more work travel assignments
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Chloe in Sacramento writes, “I work in a group of about 12 and my team is responsible for the global roll-out of our company’s new product. Several of our staff are parents of small children and our manager hardly ever asks them to make the long business trips so naturally the extensive travel falls to those of us without children. Is that fair and legal? Help.”
Assuming that each employee has an expectation of travel included in your current job description (and I’d be shocked if that was not the case) then each team member is equally expected to be available for business travel. That is entirely different from the notion that the company is somehow required to spread the business travel equally across all employees. A company always has the right to take different employee situations into account when assigning responsibilities, and avoiding lengthy travel assignments for parents is one area the company can live up to its values. So yes, it is legal to do. Fairness is an entirely different issue, and I can certainly sympathize with an employee feeling overly burdened if a lot of travel falls to her/him. Here are some tips for addressing this issue with your boss and co-workers. One, take a look at a calendar with your team and map out the next big trips. Most long trips are not last-minute discoveries. Make sure everyone has visibility on the entire teams quarterly and annual travel. Two, take time to discuss the travel requirements with the whole group. Get input on what makes sense for who to be where and when – hopefully that will lead to a more balanced duty assignment. Three, encourage coworkers to think outside the strict “work box”; perhaps a family-friendly vacation can be planned for before/after a business trip. Four, make sure that day-to-day corporate responsibilities are covered for the traveling employee. Travel is particularly stressful for an employee who has no one helping with their “regular” job so everyone on the team should expect to take on additional responsibilities when any member travels. Five, respect that people do have different home situations and that society supports not separating parents and small children whenever possible. Every individual needs corporate compassion from time to time based on life’s circumstances. If everyone is being respected, it’s all good.
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