More Fathers Figure on Family Time

"In the workplace, it is okay for women to take flex time and maternity leave. But there's still a stigma attached to men doing that," said Jeffrey Levine, an executive coach who runs a Los Angeles coaching firm called Executive Dads. "So, even in companies that offer flex time or paternity leave, it's not used." He recently gave a talk at Kimberly-Clark Corp. in Wisconsin about how to balance professional success with parenthood. About 80 women attended, while just three men came.

But some top companies are making it a lot easier for working dads to take advantage of perks that could give them more time with their families.

Mike Dillon is general counsel with Sun Microsystems Inc. He worked for the company for several years before leaving in 1999 to create a start-up. After that went public, he came back to a changed Sun. Gone were the mahogany desks with corner offices. Instead, the attorneys were scattered around the campus and at clients' offices or were working remotely.

While he was gone, the company set up an open work environment. Special computers called SunRays were set up in coffee shops, cafes and offices throughout the company. Any employee with an identification card can simply put the card in a computer and start working as if at his or her own designated desk. If workers need an office that day, they sign up for one. Dillon can hop on a plane to a Sun office in Korea and get right to work without lugging a laptop with him. He is also set up at home.

When he became general counsel, he realized it was a 24-hour-a-day job. It made it more difficult to have quality time with his family. Sun's new open work program helped him figure out how to have good time with his family without feeling he should be at the office.

Dillon explains that his naval officer father was often deployed seven to nine months a year. "While I was growing up, he was always gone. It really created an awareness in me when I became a father how important that connection is with your dad," he said. With the Sun program, he has shifted some of his work hours so he can spend time with his three children and wife.

Some mornings, he logs on to his SunRay, does a little work and then takes his 15-year-old son to school. "Even 30 minutes every few days in the car, just two of us talking, is very beneficial," he said. Dillon then comes home, does more work, and gets into an office around 10 a.m.

"We talk so much about a work-life balance. But I always wanted a clear demarcation between those two. Now they're getting integrated, and it's just life," Dillon said. "It used to be I'd try to go home on a Friday night with no work. I was trying to be an active participant with my kids. But the stress was mounting, knowing there would be a tsunami of e-mails on Monday." Now, he can hop on the network for 10 minutes at a time to answer e-mails or do other work.

"This allows me to better focus on family when I am with them."

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