September 4, 2007
The Workplace Flexibility 2010 News Roundup is a compilation of the latest news articles, reports and other materials related to workplace flexibility. The News Roundup appears twice-weekly. If you have questions about any of the items, please contact Jennifer Hedrick at jlh62@law.georgetown.edu.
Articles
At I.B.M., A Vacation Anytime or Maybe None
"It’s every worker’s dream: take as much vacation time as you want, on short notice, and don’t worry about your boss calling you on it. Cut out early, make it a long weekend, string two weeks together — as you like. No need to call in sick on a Friday so you can disappear for a fishing trip. Just go; nobody’s keeping track. That is essentially what goes on at I.B.M., one of the cornerstones of corporate America, where each of the 355,000 workers is entitled to three or more weeks of vacation.”
Op-eds
Why Do Americans Work?
"On Labor Day, most of us celebrate our work by not working. While this adds a little irony to our annual holiday, it also provides an opportunity to reflect on this question: Why do we work… In a study of a major multinational corporation with award-winning "family friendly" benefits, Arlie Russell Hochschild tried to find out why the female employees were not taking advantage of benefits such as job-sharing, flex-time and reduced hours.”