Some parents, forced to take time off work to care for their children - or pay others to do so - feel that some schools have been over-reacting.
BBC: NEWS | UK | Education | Snow shuts schools for second day
Plus, Google engineers are encouraged to take 20 percent of their time to work on something company-related that interests them personally.
FORBES: Success Is Easy: 5 Things Executives Can Learn From The Gaping Void
But, as the US experience in the l980s shows, that can take rather a long time to work through - leaving a tricky passage for the economy to navigate.
The government too is involved, and there are efforts to change work patterns, to allow more flexible training and part-time work hours so women can take breaks to have children and then return to their career without damaging it, as it would in the past.
However, what is actually happening is that very large numbers of these GPs with children are deciding to take part-time work while the children are young.
Women are more likely than men to take part-time or informal work.
Disability living allowance, however, is expected to remain separate, with the new system allowing carers to take part-time or short-term work without losing their benefits.
BBC: Welfare reform will restore fairness, says Duncan Smith
People from around the company and across the globe take time away from their SAP jobs to work abroad on not-for-profit projects in emerging market economies, helping startups while gaining new experiences and insights.
FORBES: Taking Sabbaticals To Help Startups In Emerging Economies
While more companies are allowing employees to work when and where they want to, they increasingly are limiting people's ability to take a leave or work part-time, the Families and Work Institute found in its 2012 National Study of Employers.
The rest planned a phased exit from the workforce, but found it more advantageous to formally retire, take their pensions and then find part-time work--sometimes as "consultants" for their former employers, sometimes with competitors.
He believes gaining full-time work experience will teach a person to not take criticism too seriously.
Retirees who take part in the service might be expected to volunteer, or work part-time in so-called social enterprises.
BBC: Big Society guru urges newly retired people to volunteer
Online retail sales have boomed as more people get high-speed internet connections and time-pressed shoppers take advantage of shopping from home or work, according to industry observers.
应用推荐