May 5, 2006
Articles
Consensus Sought for Achieving Workplace Flexibility
"A discussion on the mismatch between the needs of American families and the structure of the workplace packed a 90-minute Capitol Hill briefing on May 1, in the first of what is to be a series of discussions on achieving workplace flexibility. The nonprofit Workplace Flexibility 2010 conducts research on the changing family, workforce and community. It and the Workforce and Family Program of the New America Foundation brought together the panel for a discussion sponsored by U.S. Senators Lamar Alexander, R-Tenn., and Hillary Clinton, D-N.Y.” Mentions Chai Feldblum, Barbara Schneider, Phyllis Moen, Ellen Galinsky and Nina Madoo.
Flexibility Needed in Modern Workplace
"As work hours stretch and employees bring work home, work during vacation and relinquish vacation time, Americans are paying the price in more health problems, more depression and less family time. This work-life mismatch hurts businesses, too, experts told attendees at a briefing yesterday organized by Workplace Flexibility 2010, a policy initiative focused on workplace flexibility.” Mentions panelists Ellen Galinsky and Nina Madoo.
What to Do When the Stork Visits
"Federal workers have it pretty good. The pay is steady, if not stellar. Benefits are good, layoffs rare and the government probably won't go out of business anytime soon. And yet some civil servants say something is missing: paid parental leave after the birth of a child or an adoption. Right now, federal employees who want to stay home with the new arrival have to use vacation or sick leave. They can also take 12 weeks of unpaid leave under the 1993 Family and Medical Leave Act.”
Longer Hours the New 'Regular' Workday
"These days, so many workers are putting in hours on Saturday or stretching the workday past dinner a few times a week that it's hard to define ''regular" anymore. Baxter Strategies Inc. recently found that 13 percent of all full timers in the United States regularly work more than five days a week. Almost 4 percent of full-time workers put in seven-day weeks, the marketing research firm found in its survey this year of more than 2,500 full-time employees.”
Big Buzz: For Wealthy Mothers, Work Can Be a Labor of Love
"Despite untold riches, many wealthy moms work outside the home. Work, it turns out, delivers emotional satisfaction along with cash, according to a survey of 500 wealthy moms by PNC Financial Services Group. The survey found 53 percent of those with children under 18 would keep working no matter how much money they had, and nearly 65 percent said career satisfaction is ‘a source of happiness.’”
Should You Be Fired for Using the Internet While at Work?
"BlackBerry devices. Cell phones. Pagers. Wireless Internet access. Broadband at home. The growing list of communications technologies that links workers to the workplace 24/7 increasingly is blurring the lines between work and home. Employees surf the Web at work, checking the weather, making travel plans, and shopping. At home, many send e-mail, continue their work chores on the Internet, and otherwise stay connected with their professional lives. While employers rarely discourage the extra work done at home, many want employees' attention focused on work while at the office.”
Reports
One Size Doesn't Fit All
"As baby boomers prepare for retirement, managers at the workplace are actively asking: ‘How will we staff our projects? Who will succeed the baby boomers? Who has the experience and institutional knowledge needed for sustainable success? Are we ready for the graying of the workforce?’”
- Please click here to access the report
**Please click here to access information from the congressional briefing held on Monday, May 1, 2006, sponsored by Workplace Flexibility 2010 and the New America Foundation.