Mothers aren't the only workers seeking flexible schedules, telecommuting and other benefits to help them balance their work and family lives. Fathers also are making greater use of work/life benefits, experts say.

"Certainly men are taking more advantage of this than they used to," said Rick Beal, San Francisco-based managing consultant of Watson Wyatt Worldwide's Northern California office.

"In the last 30 years or so, men's role in society and child rearing has changed," Mr. Beal said. "If you look at statistics, the norm is still there and men are still the traditional breadwinners, but if you look at anecdotal (evidence), you can spot something different."

Companies have gradually adopted work/life programs in the past decade to help their employees balance their home obligations with those of the workplace. While the programs vary greatly, many feature telecommuting, altered work schedules known as "flex time," onsite childcare and longer personal leave to help families adjust to new babies or illnesses.

Experts say these benefits generally have been available to men and women, but women traditionally have signed up more frequently. While fathers may have seen work/life balance as something with which their wives must grapple, experts say that no longer is the case.

While there has been no large-scale research, recent smaller studies show men are just as interested as women in balancing their work and family obligations.

For example, New York-based Monster Worldwide Inc., an online job search service, recently surveyed 428 working fathers, finding that 73% would be a stay-at-home parent if money were not an issue and only 41% think their employers provide sufficient benefits for working fathers.

Of work/life benefits offered by companies, working fathers most appreciate a flexible work schedule (52%), followed by the ability to telecommute (32%), according to the Monster.com survey. When considering a new job, 88% view employers more positively if they offer flex-time benefits and 85% do so if employers offer paternity leave.

In another survey of 572 men conducted in late 2006 by Work+Life Fit Inc., a Madison, N.J.-based consulting firm, 95% said that work/life is an issue for everyone. Just 1% called it a "mom issue" and 4% classified it as an issue for married couples.

Similarly in 2005, a job satisfaction survey conducted by the Alexandria, Va.-based Society for Human Resource Management found that work/life balance is almost equally important to both male and female employees.

Chris Brown, senior vp of National Fatherhood Initiative, an Gaithersburg, Md., advocacy group offering help to companies seeking ways to extend work/life programs to male employees, said more and more companies are in line with the trend. Mr. Brown estimates that roughly one-third of male employees at those companies take part in work/life balance programs.

"Companies see the value in providing work/life benefits to fathers and the fathers are grateful," Mr. Brown said.

Given employees' needs and expectations, experts say companies are making work/life a priority to retain employees, increase productivity and remain competitive.

New York-based Deloitte L.L.P., for example, provides Mass Career Customization, an employee program that allows them to set the progress, pace, workload and schedule for their career, making way for work/life balance, according to a spokesperson.

While some companies may boast about their work/life balance programs, Deloitte's upper management makes it a priority. Carl Allegretti, Midwest tax managing partner for Deloitte's Chicago office and serves in three other national and global roles within the company, said he sets the tone and leads by example. A father of two teenage boys -- one diagnosed with leukemia last year -- and a longtime sports coach, Mr. Allegretti said the climate is fresh for fathers to take advantage of work/life balance programs.

"I have my work and I have my family," Mr. Allegretti said. "I've never missed a (cancer) treatment for Joey and I coach all their sports. I don't miss many things for my kids."

He said technology has made it easier for all employees, fathers included, to work from home, at night or even at a child's football game. "I don't care where I talk to people (on the phone)," Mr. Allegretti said. "People know they have to get stuff done. They know they have to serve clients. If they want to do stuff from home, we're OK with that. We tell our employees to be where they need to beÖfor work and family."

The efforts earned Mr. Allegretti's Chicago office the first Father Friendly Company of the Year award made in 2003 by the Illinois Fatherhood Initiative.

Norwalk, Conn.-based Xerox Corp. also has made work/life balance programs available to all employees and emphasizes the program for fathers who may have felt uncomfortable previously in requesting such benefits as flex time, a company spokeswoman said. Other Xerox work/life programs include childcare subsidies and adoption assistance.

Larry Becker, Xerox's director of benefits for corporate human resources based in Rochester, N.Y., said work/life programs benefit the company. "We think if you take care of your employees, they'll take care of you and take care of your customers," he said.

Mary Ellen Gornick, Chicago-based senior vp of Workplace Options Inc., a Raleigh, N.C.-based firm providing work/life services for companies, said the trend indicates a shift in work culture.

"What this all indicates is the work/life programs have culturally, in the workplace, become acceptable," Ms. Gornick said. She said Generation X and Generation Y employees, younger workers known to choose families over work more than previous generations, have set the trend. "These fathers have balance issues just like (mothers)," she said.

There are, however, issues that could buck the trend, experts say.

According to Watson Wyatt's Mr. Beal, not all business sectors are catching on. While white-collar professions seem to generally embrace work/life balance programs for all employees, manufacturers and those offering manual jobs are less likely to offer such flexible benefits, he said.

"We see this varying dramatically by industry," Mr. Beal said.

Another challenge is the belief that it is often difficult for professionals to re-enter the workforce at the same level after taking time off or reducing hours to tend to family obligations, he said. "When you take time out of the workforce, you end up with a series of questions around how difficult it will be to restart your career," Mr. Beal said.

Ms. Gornick said the professional climate has become much more accommodating in such situations. "It is acceptable for workers to take advantage of these (programs), when in the past it was considered a bad career move to do that," she said.

At least one expert said the struggling economy could keep fathers and some mothers from signing up for work/life programs.

Tom Lerche, Chicago-based health care practice leader for Aon Consulting Inc., said sole breadwinners may be less likely to take advantage of any schedule that is less than full-time. "Flex time and other programs may be difficult for some family situations," he said, adding that a reduction in salary often accompanies some work/life balance programs.

Companies, concerned about their own bottom line, productivity and global competition, also could scale back programs, Mr. Lerche said.

Ms. Gornick, however, said she believes smart companies will increase, not decrease, work/life programs in light of tough economic circumstances.

"Companies that want to retain their top performers will not scale back these benefits," Ms. Gornick said.