I got into a fb (Facebook) argument with one of my best friends in the world the other night on the mortgage bailout proposed by President Obama.  My friend Marc (yes, he also spells it with a “C”) is one of my oldest friends, perhaps because his dad owned a deli in Cincinnati when I was a kid.  And because there was always the best fried chicken in the world in his fridge.  Seriously… the best, ever.

Marc and I have always battled on topics like this, so even though I think of him as a bloviating pig and he thinks of me as a liberal-leaning wimp, it’s all good and almost always in good fun.  Our conversation about the merits of the proposed bailout and whether everyone that is going to be assisted deserved it brought up another issue that many of my clients struggle with:  what is the role of an organization in regards to helping employees with family issues?

For example, should a company…

• Provide reimbursement for adoption costs?
• Allow flexibility for employees to care for sick children as the need arises?
• Pay for the services of a company that will help the employee with the growing needs of their older parents?
• Pick up the cost of healthy initiatives, whether related to smoking cessation, weight loss, or depression?
• Offer low cost life insurance?
• Continue to pay $8,000-$10,000 per employee for health insurance?

As an employee advocate, you know where I fall on this discussion.  Employers continue to ask more and more from their staff, that the old definition of “comp and benefits” no longer applies… at least in my little corner of the world.

Perhaps we are entering a new time.  There is a renewed volunteer spirit in our nation (Marc would say it’s because a lot more people are without jobs).  There is a question about the fairness of executive pay (Marc would say it’s because we are sliding into socialism).  There is a new discussion about “fairness” and how much we should help our neighbor (Marc would say that he didn’t make his neighbor’s mess and shouldn’t have to clean it up).

Funny thing, I wouldn’t disagree with anything Marc would say (in my made-up world).  I wonder if he would say the same.  I’ll never ask, ’cause I keep hoping that he will one day my good friend will invite me to his house…

…for the best fried chicken I have ever had.