Unit 10
Should parents get more leave?
職場攻略/職業發展
Workplace English/Career Development
BRAIN STORM
Share your ideas with your teacher and try to make sentences.
Should parents get more leave? What do you think are the reasons why they should get more leave?
VOCABULARY
Repeat these sentences after your teacher.
1. ratcheting up (phr.) 逐步增加
Tension is ratcheting up in the company.
張力在公司逐漸增加起來。
2. juggle (v.) 盡力兼顧，同時應付
How do parents juggle work and family?
父母如何兼顧工作和家庭？
3. pick up the slack (idi.) 接替中斷的工作；收拾爛攤子
Because of her, everyone else has to pick up the slack.
由於她的關係，其他所有人都必須承擔起懈怠的任務。
4. resentment (n.) 怨恨
You can feel the resentment coming off of her.
你會感到她的不滿。
5. vulnerable (adj.) 弱勢的，脆弱的
Working parents are vulnerable to stress.
父母工作很容易受到壓力。
6. subsidies (n.) 補助金；津貼，補貼
When will the subsidies be distributed?
補貼何時發放？
7. flex hours (phr.) 彈性工作時間
Parents should be given flex hours.
家長應給予彈性小時。
Dialogue
Read the dialogue aloud with your teacher.
Have you heard? Apparently, tensions are ratcheting up between parents and childless employees, now that companies are giving parents more time off.
你聽說了嗎？顯然，因為公司給有子女的員工更多休假時間，他們和沒有子女的員工之間的緊張關係正在加劇。
Really? You’d think people would be more supportive. Given the pandemic, it’s nearly impossible for parents to juggle work and kids.
真的嗎？還指望人們會多支持理解呢。在疫情的影響下，父母們幾乎不可能同時兼顧工作和孩子。
Yeah, but everyone else has to pick up the slack, so I’m not surprised if there’s some resentment.
是啊，但這樣其他人就得替他們多做很多工作了，所以有不滿也很正常。
Still, I think companies should support vulnerable groups, like parents, be it through paid leave, remote work, or other subsidies.
我還是覺得公司應該支持弱勢群體，比如有孩子的員工，不管是通過帶薪休假、遠程工作還是其他的補貼。
Absolutely. I’m just saying perhaps they should be more empathetic. They could offer bonuses, stress leave, flex hours or other benefits to the childless.
這是肯定的。我只是說也許公司應該更人性化一點。可以為沒有孩子的員工提供獎金、壓力休假、彈性工作時間或者其他福利。
Maybe. Problem is some industries will be hard-pressed to accommodate that. Not all companies have the resources, which is why parents often come first.
可能吧。問題是有些行業很難適應這種方式。並不是所有的公司都有這樣的資源，所以才往往會優先考慮有孩子的員工。
Yeah, but it could be more equitable. Childfree employees are expected to work a ton of overtime so they should at least get more recognition.
是啊，但也可以更公平一些的。沒有孩子的員工可能會加很多班，所以他們至少也該得到更多認可。
Good point. They could also let them bank their hours and use them later for vacation.
有道理。公司還可以讓這些員工把加班的時間累積起來，以後調休用。
Yup. That would be the way to go if you want to offset the tension.
沒錯。如果想緩和現在的緊張局面，這個辦法不錯。
Grammar
Be it
The structure “be it A or B” is a shortened version of “whether it is A or B.” It‘s an old, formal structure that is sometimes used in speech and writing to list examples or possibilities. For example, in today’s lesson, the speaker said, “I think companies should support vulnerable groups, like parents, be it through paid leave, remote work, or other subsidies.” Here, we could also say “whether it is through paid leave, remote work, or other subsidies” to list the possible options as well.
The plural versions “be they” or “whether they are” are also still in use. For example, “We should support employees be they parents or childless.”
1.We need to do something to improve women‘s rights, be it through education, government or the corporate system.
2.Students will be punished for plagiarism, be it in an essay or a presentation.
3.Healthcare professionals, be they doctors, nurses or consultants, are all expected to maintain the privacy of their patients.
4.___________________________________________________________________.
DISCUSSION
Make a conversation with your teacher.
1.What laws will you want to implement, to strengthen the importance of work and life balance for the working parents?
