Dr. Presha Neidermeyer
Contact: (304) 293-7858

WVU Prof: US behind in protecting workers’ life balance

Situation will become acute as workers care for parents, children

The United States lags behind other developed countries in protecting workers in areas such as family leave, and the situation will become more acute as workers care for their aging baby boomer parents and their own children, says a WVU professor in a recently published book.

Dr. Presha Neidermeyer, an associate professor in WVU’s College of Business and Economics and co-editor of Work-Life-Family Imbalance: How to Level the Playing Field, has compared work hours of U.S. workers and counterparts in the European Union. She found that parents in Europe are ensured at least three months paternity leave, and in the United Kingdom 39 weeks of paid paternity is guaranteed.

“While the law in the United States requiring that a job be held for a specified period of time is certainly better than nothing,” Neidermeyer said, “in comparison to the benefits offered in the European Union this benefit is very minimal.”

Additionally, she has noted that although statistically men seem to work more than women, when non-paid work such as caring for elderly family members and children is factored in, women work many more hours than men. This, she says, leads of a work/life imbalance that is damaging to women and to society.

Laws should be enacted “…in order to help individuals in balancing their work/life requirements if one wants to engage more women in the paid work force.”

Published this fall by Praeger with co-editor Michele A. Paludi, the book also explores pregnancy discrimination, family laws as applied to gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender individuals, and employee retention flexibility policies in a small workplace

Paludi is president of Human Resources Management Solutions and a research rrofessor in the School of Management at the Graduate College in Union University.

Neidermeyer said the is important because the issues it investigates have a wide impact. “This book concentrates on the ever-evolving importance of work to virtually every member of our society given that all will hold a stake in some aspect of the issue of work-life balance,” she said. The book also addresses the impact on children of traditional and non-traditional families, the impact of an aging population on the work force, and how a better work-life balance will impact the health of the stakeholders.

Dr. Neidermeyer is a member of the AICPA and as part of her service effort on behalf of West Virginia University is an active participant in various organizations benefiting charities in Africa. She has led multiple teams of practicing professionals and students interested in using their special skills to Africa to help minimize the impact of the AIDS Pandemic. She is writing a book on the impact of the AIDS Pandemic on the women of Africa.

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