Do working mothers get a pass on working late?

In the workplace, it’s often perceived that parents, especially mothers, get preferential treatment when it comes to working late or overtime.

However, a recent survey by Adecco USA Workplace finds that working moms are just as likely as non-parents to work late:

The latest Adecco USA Workplace Insight survey, conducted in recognition of Mother’s Day, found that working moms (71%) are just as likely as non-parents (73%) to work late and respond to e-mails after hours, even though one-third of all workers (32%) would be less inclined to ask a working parent (male or female) to do so. Further, even though they’re willing to burn the midnight oil with the rest of their colleagues, nearly half of moms (49%) think their companies should do more to help them achieve better work/life balance.

I know there’s conflict between parents and non-parents in some workplaces, but fortunately I’ve never experienced it.

I worked for a brief stint in IT, and the culture was clearly different than what I was used to as a nurse. I had my first child during this time and knew I had to get out because my supervisor was a caricature of of the boss who thought people who arrived early and worked later were better employees.

I disagreed with that philosophy before I had kids, and I certainly wasn’t going to change my mind after I had kids, but I never asked for anything special because I was a parent.

I might add that he died of a heart attack at a young age.

There are people who clearly take advantage of their status as a parent to get out of things at work, in my experience, the majority don’t.