Anticipate--and fend off--co-worker resentment of COVID-related parental leave.

As the pandemic drags on, employees who do not have children may grumble about the flexibility granted to co-workers who do. Conversely, working parents may worry that their performance is being harshly judged against that of co-workers without childcare responsibilities.

This isn't a new phenomenon. The same kinds of resentments bubbled up in the early 1990s after the ADA was enacted. Some employees groused about what they perceived as special treatment for ADA-protected workers.

Then as now, a law designed to help some workers left others feeling like it was up to them to pick up the slack.

At the heart of the current problem is the Families First Coronavirus Response Act, which provides partially paid leave for parents who must take time off because their kids are at home engaged in online learning.

One recent survey noted that working mothers' productivity has dipped 9% during the pandemic. (The figure was 5% for working fathers.)

The resentment has been showing up on social media. Complaints abound that...