December 22, 2008.
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 WF2010@law.georgetown.edu. The News Roundup will return on January 6, 2008.
Articles
More Companies Cutting Labor Costs, but Not the Labor
“Even as layoffs are reaching historic levels, some employers have found an alternative to slashing their work force. They’re nipping and tucking it instead. A growing number of employers, hoping to avoid or limit layoffs, are introducing four-day workweeks, unpaid vacations and voluntary or enforced furloughs, along with wage freezes, pension cuts and flexible work schedules. These employers are still cutting labor costs, but hanging onto the labor. And in some cases, workers are even buying in. Witness the unusual suggestion made in early December by the chairman of the faculty senate at Brandeis University, who proposed that the school’s 300 professors and instructors give up 1 percent of their pay.”
Workplace flexibility discussed at forum
“For many returning troops and their family members, finding a job is only half the battle. Holding onto it is a whole different fight, employment experts said. "I think we have good data on who gets jobs but I don’t think we’ve paid nearly enough attention on what happens when they get in there, what the adjustment is like," said Shelley MacDermid, director of the Military Family Research Institute, at a forum on workplace flexibility Thursday. "How many times do people have to reshape and reshuffle before they get settled? How many people go in smoothly versus needing some kind of adjustment? What kind of adjustment is that? I don’t think we have any of the answers to those questions yet." The event, sponsored by Workplace Flexibility 2010, was designed to highlight difficulties military families face in looking for jobs and juggling employment responsibilities with military duties.”
School district, teachers union in talks to implement phased-retirement plan
“Local legislative ingenuity may give the Winona school district some staffing flexibility. The district and its teachers union are negotiating a phased-retirement plan for experienced teachers. The option was made possible this year by legislation authored by state Rep. Gene Pelowski, who also teaches at Winona’s high school. Talks are still preliminary, but both union and district leaders spoke positively of the concept. “It has some potential to be one piece of a complex puzzle,” superintendent Paul Durand said. The legislation gives long-time teachers the option to partially retire early. Staff members could stay with the district and teach one or two core courses while receiving retirement benefits.”
Fossils Show Dinosaurs As Stay-at-Home Dads
“Did oviraptor daddies look forward to trips to the park? Alas, that's a question the fossil record can't answer. But it does appear that many dinosaur fathers spent an awful lot of time around the nest watching the kids. Using statistical comparisons with birds and an analysis of leg bones found atop nests of unhatched eggs, a team of paleontologists has concluded that at least three types of dinosaur males did the brooding and incubating. The study, being published today in the journal Science, continues the extreme makeover of dinosaurs from coldblooded, pea-brain tyrants to warmblooded, empathetic helpmates.”
Employers look to telecommute, early release to cope with storm
“Private-sector employers chipped in to clear roads before today’s snowstorm blew into the Hub. Many companies allowed thousands of workers to stay home today, rather than commute to work in the first place, knowing a storm was on the way. Others allowed employees to go home early, especially after Boston Mayor Thomas M. Menino declared a snow emergency for the city at noon.”
Blogs
Time to Invest in Netflix Stock
“The recession, obviously, is not a good thing. But I think it might be a good thing if when we pull out of it, we switch to a different equilibrium in which people work somewhat less and earn somewhat less. There’s a lot of evidence to suggest it would make people happier, and some good reason to think it would be better for the environment.”
The Economic Crisis and a New Pair of "Flexibility" Shoes
“The current economic crisis is forcing me to articulate a new argument for workplace flexibility and, I confess, I’m feeling a little uncomfortable. Whilst I like the idea of stretching my thinking and, to be frank, trading in the well worn argument that flexibility enables organisations to attract and retain talent (it does, but I’m tired of repeating myself), I’m not entirely comfortable with where the “reshaped” argument for flexibility is heading. It’s like I’m looking at a new pair of shoes – and although they seem attractive I’m not sure they’re for me. In these times of job loss, pitching flexibility as a way to attract and retain talent is missing the mark. So a new “flexibility” argument is getting a run – and this argument emphasises the benefits of flexibility in terms of reducing overhead and boosting productivity. The new argument highlights the ways in which flexibility can reduce fixed costs (e.g., real estate costs by enabling staff to work from home), reduce staff associated costs (e.g., by offering unpaid periods of leave), and increase outputs (e.g., by enabling staff to be more focused and fresh and therefore more efficient and creative).”
Set different work/life priorities in 2009
“Most of us start thinking about our resolutions this time of year. We will set our career priorities for 2009. We will vow to make ourselves recession-proof at work. We will vow to find a new job or prove why we should get a raise. We will vow to get in better shape or lose weight. But maybe you should set your work/life priorities for 2009. Kathie Lingle,who leads Alliance for Work-Life Progress (AWLP), says employees need to get into the work/life movement on their own behalf. She insists they've been too passive.”
Searching for Clues: Post Recession Work + Life Landscape
“One thing I know for sure is that the recession is accelerating the transformation of the work+life fit landscape for organizations, individuals, and public policymakers. So in addition to focusing on surviving the current downturn, I’m thinking about how we might need to adapt in the new more flexible reality that will emerge. Most likely we will not go back to “normal.” But what will the new reality look like? My search for clues is leading me in many directions. Recently, I revisited scholarly predictions that inspired me as a business school student. I became reacquainted with the work of famous British management guru Charles Handy, and was quickly reminded why I became a Handy groupie (in fact, I included a story in my book about how he works six-months of the year, and supports his wife’s photography business the other six-months).”
Be a Negotiator, Not a Victim: How To Get Parental Leave
“How can working parents get the paid maternity or paternity leave they need in the absence of employer policies or laws guaranteeing it? It’s among the most common questions I receive as the Wall Street Journal’s “Work & Family” columnist, and it reflects a dilemma that leaves many moms and dads feeling powerless. One adoptive mother-to-be recently posed an especially baffling version of the question: As an independent contractor, she asked, how can I get my employer, a very small doctor’s office, to provide me a few weeks’ paid adoption leave? Rather than heeding my first impulse – to reply, “Forget it, you’re toast” — I turned to one of the nation’s top experts on negotiation: Robert Mnookin, a law professor and chair of the Program on Negotiation at Harvard Law School. His suggestion was to reframe the situation and take a stance as a negotiator—someone who has something to offer in a dispute—rather than as a victim.”
Global News
More work-life balance here
“MORE employers are establishing better worklife balance in the office by adopting family friendly policies, a report by the Manpower Ministry showed. The report released on Monday said that more employers are adopting flexible working hours, granting more leave benefits such as maternity and paternity leave. Close to one in ten of all employers adopted flexible working arrangements, such as working from home, part-time work and working in shifts. In the private sector, 7.1 per cent of firms had flexible work schedules this year, up from 5.4 per cent two years ago.”
Making time for the children: one in four parents now put their family before work
“One in four parents have reduced their working life to spend more time with their family, according to a government study that also charts the rise of "relay parenting" whereby mums and dads parent in shifts to fit around their jobs. Families are under stress from the pressures of juggling work and home life, but even so, parents who work are more likely to stay together because financial problems are one of the biggest strains a relationship can suffer, says the wide-ranging Cabinet Office study, which documents the changing nature of families. It was presented at a conference of newspaper and TV agony aunts, convened by the children's secretary, Ed Balls, to highlight the impact of family breakdown on children.”