October 3, 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
Supporting Military Families With Children
“Managing work and family responsibilities is particularly difficult for military families with children. While military life has always been demanding, in recent years an increasing number of military personnel in both the Active Duty Force and Selected Reserves have had to confront the additional demands of parenthood. Providing resources to support parents who serve in the military and the nearly 1.8 million children living in military families has become a priority for state legislators.”
Older workers aim to boost retirement funds
“So close and yet so far. It's a frustration being felt by Americans who thought the finish line to their working life was almost in sight. More than half of people surveyed in an Associated Press-GfK poll released Wednesday said they worry that they will have to work longer because the value of their retirement savings has declined. The meltdown in the markets comes as pensions are being eliminated. The burden is increasingly on individuals to manage their own 401(k) plans and invest in the market. In 1980, 60 percent of workers were covered by defined-benefit pension plans and just 17 percent relied on defined-contribution plans, such as a 401(k), according to the Center for Retirement Research at Boston College.”
Work-life balance possible for women
“Women can often reduce their hours simply by reducing their client schedule, Kummer added. The down side, of course, is that clients are your business — so you'll typically have to be on your Blackberry, Harper said. Even so, it helps not always having to be in the office all the time, she said. When it comes to work-life balance, it especially helps to have a support system. Harper said having a caregiver and a husband who gets home on time makes life more convenient. It also helps that business travel can vary depending on your desire. Kummer doesn't travel all that much, she said, except for conferences and the like.”
Parents Give Up Teens Under Law Meant For Babies
“The spate of abandonments has prompted an outcry about parental irresponsibility and pledges to change the state law. But it has also cast a spotlight on the hidden extent of family turmoil around the country and what many experts say is a shortage of respite care, counseling and especially psychiatric services to help parents in dire need. Some who work with troubled children add that economic conditions, like stagnant low-end wages and the epidemic of foreclosures, may make the situation worse, adding layers of worry and conflict. “I have no doubt that there are additional stresses today on families who were already on the margin,” said Gary Stangler, director of the Jim Casey Youth Opportunities Initiative in St. Louis, which aids foster children entering adulthood.”
The Future of Work
“Although our country's main source of transportation is still the automobile and not the escalator, the future is now. And when it comes to the organization of work, it's time we catch up to the future. According to Charlie Grantham, Ph.D. futurist and author of the recent book Corporate Agility, the social systems that supported the industrial age are breaking down. Education systems, health care systems and the organization of work are not performing as efficiently or effectively as they could. This should be of no surprise to any of us, as the assumptions on which these systems were developed are nearly a century old.”
Palin Talk
“Nearly five years ago, my husband was offered a prestigious, challenging plum of a job in another country. At the time, my father was dying, and my older son, suffering from debilitating migraines, was struggling in school. Sometimes parents decide that what is tempting, even perfect, for them is just not right for their family. My husband turned down the job. I didn’t talk much about the decision at the time. I felt guilty that my husband had to give up something he would have loved in part because I couldn’t handle it, and I carried a vague shame that other families could have toughed this out but that ours was too fragile. It’s hard to talk about what you are not proud of. None of this fit with my view of who I thought I should be — an unflappable, charge-ahead type, able to roll with whatever life delivered.”
Telecommuting on state House candidates' radar as election nears
“If more Connecticut residents worked from home, could it help solve some of the state’s transportation and environmental issues? For state House of Representatives candidates Alfred Camillo Jr. and Edward Krumeich II, the telecommuting approach is something to consider. Both men running for the 151st District spot are in agreement that telecommuting would have benefits for employees and employers. [. . .] Connecticut already has a telecommuting program for state workers, of which 140 participated last year.”
Moms combine family and jobs for best of both worlds
“It is common today for women to pursue their chosen careers in the work force while simultaneously balancing family life. Some women, such as Stacy Schindler and Anne Kerner, also manage to be movers and shakers in both their workplaces and in their families. Schindler, communications director at New Harvest Church in Clovis, Calif., spends most of her energy maintaining the balance between her work and home lives. Her husband, Tom, who runs Schindler Productions, shares the responsibilities of the household and of taking care of their 8-year-old daughter, Allison.”
Working mothers question Sarah Palin's support
“Sarah Palin’s nomination as the GOP vice-presidential candidate was seen as the triumph of a working mom. Now some advocates want to know if she’ll stand up for them. Initially, the narrative on Palin was dominated by questions of whether the self-proclaimed hockey mom with five kids - including a pregnant teenage daughter and a baby boy with Down syndrome - should be running at all, given those responsibilities. Ellen Bravo of the University of Wisconsin says that was the wrong question. The choice was Palin’s to make, says Bravo, an activist for family-friendly policies.”
Retirement on Hold: How Long Will You Have to Keep Working?
“They’d spent years crunching numbers, planning for their long-awaited retirement. Now the couple say they can’t afford it. Josie Pirozzoli, 60, and her husband, John Heisler, 54, of Winter Haven, Fla., had planned to pay off their mortgage first, dabble in real estate and cash in some of their 401(k) and IRA funds to travel, pursue hobbies and “just enjoy each other.” But their income nose-dived along with the economy. Now they may have to sell the waterfront home they’ve settled into for their retirement years if they cannot find jobs soon.”
Blogs
Finessing a Leave of Absence
“One of the most coveted of workplace perks is the sabbatical or leave of absence — a way to stray from your job for a time and return with renewed vigor and enthusiasm. To those of us outside academia, however, leaves of absence are rare. Still, leaves of absence can make good sense — for both an employer and employee. Even in dismal economic times like now. Today we have a guest post by Barbara Raab, who is currently on a leave of absence from her job at NBC News. She says that before she asked for the time off, she, too, thought leaves of absence were more fantasy than reality.”
Do Fathers Get Enough Credit?
“Last night’s vice presidential debate had a number of memorable moments, from Sen. Joe Biden’s statements about Dick Cheney, to Gov. Sarah Palin’s carefully crafted zingers. But perhaps one of the most arresting was Sen. Biden’s account of his struggles with single parenthood and family tragedy. Often an emotional speaker, Sen. Biden became visibly upset as he spoke about the death of his wife and daughter in an accident that also gravely injured his two young sons.”
Retirement - Interrupted, But Work+Life Options Still Exist
“The current financial crisis and poor market performance are forcing some pre-retirees to think twice about upcoming plans for retirement. They face the prospect of working longer than they had planned and they are not alone. In April, a survey conducted for AARP, found that 27 percent of workers age 45 and over, and 32 percent of those 55 through 64 said they had pushed back their planned retirement date because of the economic downturn. With retirement on hold, most believe that their only choice is sit tight in their the same-old job, with the same-old schedule until their portfolios can recover or their savings can make up the difference. Not necessarily.”
Helping Women Get Back to Business
“On September 18th, as the attendees entered the three-story glass vestibule and rode the escalator up to the Back to Business event, they couldn’t help but wonder if this conference really was going to be all that they claimed. The invitation to “What You Need to Succeed – the Un-Conference” said that it was going to be a “groundbreaking, how-to workshop for women– different than any other women’s conference you’ve ever attended”. The venue, the spectacular Gillette Stadium at Patriot Place, which exudes enthusiasm and a winning spirit, certainly supported this message from the start.”
Global News
EU proposes longer maternity leave
“The commission, the EU's executive, also said the same maternity benefits should apply to self-employed women. The commission said longer maternity leave would encourage women to return to work after having children. Critics have said small businesses will struggle to meet the costs and that national governments should decide on such matters, not the EU. Maternity leave currently varies from 14 weeks in Germany to 18 months in Sweden, with many countries offering less than 18 weeks.”
Clock ticking on work-life balance
“Researchers working on the Negotiating the Life Course project say about 50 per cent of middle-aged men want to work fewer hours but are trapped into thinking that they need to work long hours to have a good career and provide for the family. We have come to accept this situation, say the researchers, who are calling for a rethink. Their observations are welcome in putting due recognition on the plight of working parents, male and female. It is often said working mothers are, in effect, doing two full-time jobs. When they come home after a long and possibly stressful day at work, all too often they are faced with much of the cooking and cleaning. It is to be hoped that men are taking on more housework but various studies show the higher proportion still falls to women.”
Tories pledge to make UK the most 'family friendly' place to work
“A Conservative government will seek to make Britain the "most family-friendly place to do business", shadow women's minister Theresa May pledged last night. May cast the modern Conservatives as a party that accepted that "families today come in all sorts of shapes and sizes" who needed greater choice to better balance their work and home lives. And she vowed to champion the pay gap between men and women as she announced that the Conservatives would introduce a private members bill in December that would strengthen the law against pay discrimination, which sees women earning on average 17% less than men.”