March 25, 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.
Articles
Other Paths: Firms Find Flexible Work Programs Boost Retention, Productivity
“Aside from flexible work arrangements, where schedules are created on an individual basis and can include a compressed or reduced work week, successful plans include telecommuting; part-time options to partnership; off-ramp considerations, or keeping employees connected to the firm when they are away on leave through CPE training, access to e-mail and inter-office communications; creating policies to support work/life effectiveness for both men and women; and offering choices in career direction.”
Get Ready to Step Up, Dad
“Now, women are leaving the cave in increasing numbers and some men get nervous thinking women may one day lead the pack. Could it be that as men tiptoe back into the cave, we women worry that they'll eventually take over? Such concerns are common, says Paula England, a Stanford University sociologist…. Both women and men feel more comfortable, she says, when a mother assumes a traditional male role than when a father assumes a historically female role. "The men don't know how to take [child raising] on, and the women don't trust them to." Such tugs of territory cross income and racial lines.”
Mobilizing for Family Leave
“The National Partnership for Women & Families recently launched a yearlong online campaign to give people who have used the Family & Medical Leave Act a way to share their stories at www.thanksfmla.org. On the 15th anniversary of the law, the first national policy to help workers meet the dual demands of work and family, and with the U.S. Department of Labor pushing regulations that could scale back its protections, the campaign is designed to mobilize tens of millions of Americans.”
OPM Calls for Short Term Disability Insurance
"New employees, though, may be short on paid leave. To close the benefits gap, the Office of Personnel Management submitted a proposal to Congress this month calling for a short-term disability insurance program that would provide coverage on a voluntary basis and with premiums paid by the employees, not the government."
Work Sucks? Blame her!
[B]asically Spencer's point boils down to the idea that when women fought for their rights to enter male-dominated workplaces, they should have also done more negotiating on behalf of their families. But instead, not only did they try too hard to fit into the male working paradigm, leaving their kids in the dust, but they actually upped Americans' work standards, so that today, men and women are all working more than they used to, and family life is suffering as a result.”
Letter to the Editor: American Medicine, Warts and All
“With the enormous aging baby boom population, we should be focusing on strategies to lure these top students into the primary care fields, through much-needed pay increases and flexible schedules for the growing number of women in medicine. We are already at a point where demand for good primary care physicians far exceeds supply.”
Md. House OKs Flexible Leave Measure
“Private-sector employees who receive paid leave in Maryland would be allowed to use it while caring for sick members of their immediate family, under legislation approved by the House of Delegates today. An employee who gets more than one form of paid leave could choose the type and amount of the leave to take to care for a sick spouse, child or parent. The measure also would prohibit an employer from taking action against an employee for taking the time off to care for a sick relative.”
The King Is Hiring: Long Live the King
“At the same time, Mr. Tomas says, the research found that the best approach was “not to overtly tell you we’re selling you a long-term career” because “most people, when they apply for a job at a Burger King restaurant, are not looking for a 15- or 20-year career.” Instead, “they’re looking for work-life balance,” he adds, “a place that’s close to home, close to school, a place they believe they’ll enjoy working at.” So the campaign “does not say, ‘You can start here and in 20 years be a vice president,’ ” Mr. Tomas says, adding, “But once you’re in and working for us, we can convince you it’s a great place to stay.””
A Delicate Balance
“In fact, according to a 2005 survey by the Families and Work Institute, one in three Americans is chronically overworked…. a condition seen in nearly all occupations from blue-collar workers to upper management. Beyond the sheer number of hours on the job, causes range from personal ambition to pressing family obligations, and even the accelerating pace of technology.”
The Tension Builds (It's Almost Monday)
“More than half the respondents to the [October 2007 APA] survey said they had left a job or considered doing so because of stress, and 55 percent said that stress made them less productive at work. With costs like that, you’d think that companies would devote considerable resources to fighting the problem. But a survey published last year by Watson Wyatt suggests that they aren’t. For example, some 48 percent of the employers in the survey said stress created by long hours and limited resources was affecting business performance, but only 5 percent said they were taking strong action to address those areas.”
Accepting the Unacceptable
“Is it possible to lead a balanced life, devoting enough time to both family and career? Not a chance, Paula Spencer concludes in Woman’s Day.... Does saying no to demanding work assignments to spend more time with the family, automatically damage someone’s career. Almost certainly yes, seems to be the conclusion you are supposed to draw after reading “Can You Work This Weekend” by Suzy Welch in O, the Oprah magazine.... It is interesting to note that both Ms. Welch and Ms. Spencer address their articles exclusively to women.”
Spence Suggests 4-Day Week for State Workers
“Republican House Speaker Terry Spence [Deleware] has a money-saving suggestion for the state: A four-day work week for non-essential state employees. He says he has introduced a resolution urging Gov. Ruth Ann Minner to consider the idea. Spence says the compressed work week would consist of an ordinary number of working hours performed on fewer than the number of days ordinarily required to perform that job. He says seven states, and most federal offices, already offer a condensed work week.”
Cornell Named a Top Company for Women Executives
“Cornell has been named as one of the nation's top companies for executive women by the National Association for Female Executives (NAFE) for its work/life programs for women, opportunity for advancement, the presence of women among Cornell executives and compensation. "[This] is a great honor," said Mary Opperman, vice president for human resources at Cornell, "[and] another affirmation of Cornell's commitment to diversity and inclusiveness. We always learn so much from our fellow award-winning organizations about other best practices that we should consider." In 2007 Cornell was named a best employer for working mothers by Working Mother magazine and for people 50 years and older by the American Association of Retired Persons.”
Blogs
What Women Lawyers Want Is For You To Stop Asking What We Want (and Do Your Own Laundry)
“I doubt that the legal profession is the only factor, or even the main factor, in women lawyers’ professional discontent. The problem is not the job itself (although I’m all in favor of restructuring billing structures, compensation incentives, etc.). The problem is what women are expected to do when they are not engaged in paid labor. Women still work Arlie Hochschild’s second shift (and sometimes a third or fourth, too). Why are women not getting the help they want outside the paid labor force?”
Making it Work Without Paid Child Care
“They stagger their telecommuting schedules so one is home to help their two school-aged kids get ready in the morning and the other meets the youngest at the bus stop after school. It’s conceivable that a schedule like this could work even if they both worked in offices. Readers, have you managed to juggle your schedules to the point that you require little or no outside or paid child care? If not, could you see yourself making your work and family run smoothly with little or no outside child care?”
Reports
Stay Flexible or Risk Losing Your Professionals
“If you can’t be flexible, then stay out of the management suite. Otherwise, you might have a tough time hanging onto your most talented people, suggests a recent study by the Institute for Corporate Productivity (i4cp). Flex work is being fostered in the business arena as a means to boost employee morale and increase retention. But who’s most likely to request such arrangements? Fully 73% of those who responded to the survey said that “employees in professional roles” request these types of arrangements. The study also shows that the employee groups considered most “conducive” to flex work are those in professional roles, followed by those in technical and clerical positions.”
Global
Flexi Hours to Help Women Take Care of Kids
“Appreciating the hardship being faced by working women, the Sixth Pay Commission has suggested introduction of flexible working hours to help them attend to the needs of their growing children. If the pay panel report is accepted in toto by the government, as has been advocated by its chairman Justice B N Srikrishna, women employees will be permitted to come to office late or leave early as per their needs.”
Flexi-work Scheme for Retired IMH Staff
"After 40 years of service in the nursing profession, Madam Tang Siew Heng retired in 2005 to take care of her newborn granddaughter. With her young charge now old enough to attend day school, Madam Tang found that she had more spare time on her hands. Coincidentally, she got a call in February from her ex-workplace, the Institute of Mental Health (IMH) to work on a part-time basis…. The flexible work arrangement allows her to pick her granddaughter up from school at 5pm."
Working-age Aussies Sitting Idle: Report
"A report showing a third of Australia's working-age population is sitting idle highlights the need for greater flexibility in the workplace, the federal opposition says. The report, released by the Australian Bureau of Statistics, shows a total of 5.5 million Australians aged 15 years or over was absent from the labour force last year….Almost two-thirds (60 per cent) of those not wanting work were women, with 39 per cent saying their main activities were home duties or caring for children. Deputy Opposition Leader Julie Bishop said the report highlighted the need for more options and greater choice in the workplace."
It's The Death of The Supermom
“Ms Cox said many women felt they would be worse off if they rejoined the workforce because they would lose out on some family benefits that favoured parents who were not working. Sex Discrimination Commissioner Elizabeth Broderick said it was important government policy did not "disproportionately disadvantage" low-income families. "I have heard from numerous women who have either given up on paid work altogether or are paying a financial penalty to stay in the paid workforce," she said. "We need flexible work arrangements that actually work and credible alternatives to full-time work.”
Workers to Get More Protections in Workplace
“The government is to boost protections for vulnerable workers and breastfeeding mothers by putting minimum meal and rest break requirements into the law, along with a code of practice to promote breastfeeding in the workplace. Labour Minister Trevor Mallard announced the changes today, marking the centenary commemorations of the 1908 Blackball miners strike over meal breaks – a historic event that gave birth to the Labour Party. He also announced plans to allow shift workers to transfer their public holidays.“
The Word is FLEXITIME
“Organisations sensitive to the needs of their employees, came up with a novel, yet simple solution — offer flexible work options to employees, like, working from home or changing daily log-in/log-out timings or allowing to take time off to attend to other commitments or even shuttle between part-time and full-time work. Though the concept is not new, it has become popular only in these recent times of business boom that has created a wide gap between the supply and demand for talented manpower (or womanpower!) in the corporate world.”