Dear Bob ...In my department, a few core people are getting leaned one heavily since others have "lives".The classic case is when certain team members have kids, both parents work, and they miss random blocks of time for kids stuff. The non-kid (or different priority) folks end up picking up the slack. They don't complain (to me at least) but in my mind that doesn't make it okay.I don't want to be the kind of he Dear Bob …In my department, a few core people are getting leaned one heavily since others have “lives”.The classic case is when certain team members have kids, both parents work, and they miss random blocks of time for kids stuff. The non-kid (or different priority) folks end up picking up the slack. They don’t complain (to me at least) but in my mind that doesn’t make it okay. I don’t want to be the kind of heartless boss who won’t let a parent attend a special event. On the other hand, I certainly don’t want to be such a curmudgeon that I don’t allow these things.Any suggestions?– In prevention mode Dear Preventer …Good for you for seeing a potential problem before it turns into a real one. You’re right on the money regarding the risk.Luckily, you have a couple of easy options open to you. One is to establish an informal comp-time arrangement to allow people who work extra hours to get some of them back … not on a tally-for-tally basis, but just to be reasonable. They can use that time to attend a daughter’s soccer game, a son’s chess match or to take their poodle to the Westminster Dog Show. It’s their time, and anyone can earn the privilege the same way.Or, you can enforce your company’s vacation policy. Parents are free to use vacation to attend family events; non-parents are free to use it in other ways. Again, everyone gets the same deal.And you don’t end up turning yourself from leader to enforcer. – Bob Technology Industry