Family vacation. Talk about two words that can strike fear in the hearts of many parents who have had their share of “Griswold-worthy” family holidays where they were plagued with continual disasters in their attempts to have THE best vacation ever. (Do you remember those hilarious National Lampoon movies?!) And then there are parents who…
Organizations in Canada seeking to retain their top talent by offering better work-life balance now have the chance to join a prestigious club of like-minded employers. IFREI Club Canada is to be the newest member of the IFREI Club, a global association open to public and private organizations, charities and non-profits. Admission is based on…
Today is national Go Home on Time Day, the one day of the year that you can work the hours you are paid for and no more – without feeling guilty. Since The Australia Institute first declared Go Home on Time Day in 2009, hundreds of thousands of workers have taken part. That working your…
During her two maternity leaves, Tara Piurko maintained a lifeline to her hard-earned career as a lawyer in Toronto through an innovative buddy program run by her firm, McCarthy Tétrault LLP. Through the program, she and a selected work buddy regularly met for lunch, with her baby in tow. In weekly calls, Ms. Piurko received…
What if you could do your work anywhere and anytime and still accomplish what your boss needed? Do you work in an environment founded on the idea that being present = productivity? I was invited to a client‘s Shabbat dinner, as an Irish Catholic, this was a wonderful cultural experience. I particularly enjoyed the unique…
It can be awfully tasting medicine, yet some unplanned career disruptions are true blessings in disguise. So thought Steve Jobs after being fired from his own company (ten years after starting Apple), as he recounted in a memorable commencement speech at Stanford. (Editor’s note: The first link takes you to the text of the speech,…
Bringing any new baby home is challenging, but when you adopt a child from another country, the language and cultural issues make the transition period even more complicated. As well, many older children have a harder time adjusting to their new families and cultures than an infant might, and need all the love and support…
The irony of modern life is that despite all of our modern conveniences, we are somehow busier than ever. This is partly because we’re living out the effects of a massive social shift in which the vast majority of women have entered the workforce. In Canada, women now outnumber men at work and in universities….
Work-family balance isn’t just an issue for families in North America, it is a longing of many families throughout the world. According to a recent Scottish poll, most parents consider work-life balance a key priority in their lives, and 64% of parents polled indicated that they didn’t believe their work-life balance was ideal. As a…