September 16, 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
On the Road - Business or Pleasure? More Are Choosing Both
“In that survey, with 2,400 travelers responding in North America and Western Europe, 39 percent described themselves as “experience-hungry” travelers who strove to balance business travel with leisure interests [. . .] “Business travelers are managing work-life balance,” he added. “One of the key things they’re doing is bringing family or friends along, or taking an extra day before or after” the business part of the trip. Mr. Cohn of Orbitz for Business said that given rising travel costs, it made sense to tack some family leisure travel onto a business trip in which “part of the cost can be absorbed through the work trip.””
Moms returning to work find daunting job market
“Many moms say they tend to go for jobs with fewer responsibilities than before they left the workforce. Some say they are not as driven by the dollar as they were before having kids, particularly if it means less availability for the family. The positions they seek often depend on whether the family needs income or benefits. Often they seek part-time or flexible work. "Maybe temporary work is your way to go," says Emma Gilbey Keller, author of Comeback Moms. Remember, "your first piece of work is not your last." Of course, anyone looking for a job is told to network. But mothers have an advantage - the parents of their kids' friends. After 14 years of scraping by, Diane Schick could no longer afford to stay home and keep her children in private school.”
Palin's situation is familiar to female doctors with kids
“As every woman in medicine has heard, there's no good time to have a child. During medical school, you need to study. During residency, the hours are long. If you wait until after training, you could be in your mid 30s. We know better than anyone that birth defects increase with maternal age. The profession of medicine has come a long way in accepting motherhood. At the University of California at San Francisco, where I went to medical school, I could zip up to the private breast-pump rooms during my intensive- care rotation and use the hospital-grade facilities to save milk for my daughter, who was born during my fourth year. Certain residency programs offer "flex-time," where you share a spot with another resident and work part time for a longer period to complete training.”
Survey finds workers highly value paid sick leave
“Most large companies offer paid sick days to their employees, but 43 percent of the private work force didn't have them in 2007, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. There are no federal or state laws mandating paid sick days, although Washington, D.C., and San Francisco guarantee them. A recent survey found that 82 percent of respondents considered paid sick leave for oneself a ''very important'' employee benefit. It ranked fourth after equal pay for equal work, a safe workplace and affordable health insurance — and ahead of retirement benefits, paid vacations and flex time.”
Workers love four-day work week
“Fayetteville Parks & Recreation Division maintenance workers enjoy working four days a week instead of five, and they are more productive, officials said. Rising fuels prices have prompted workers and managers to take a fresh look at allowing workers to stay at home one more day each week to save time and gas money. Workers who mow Fayetteville's parks and recreation areas asked their supervisors about working four 10-hour days instead of five 8-hour days after reading in the newspaper that schools were considering this as a way to save money.”
Family Leave Act can affect teacher's seniority
“DEAR CARRIE: I work for a school district, and I pay into the teachers retirement system. I became ill and was out for 70 days under the Family and Medical Leave Act. Before I returned to work, I received a letter stating that the retirement system administrators were changing my date of hire because I didn't pay into the retirement system for the time I was out. Can they do that?”
Sarah Zamboni clears the ice on working mothers
“Nevertheless the good news for this cockeyed optimist is that Palin has made it politically incorrect to criticize working mothers. They are the demilitarized zone of the cultural battleground. [. . .] The Emergence of Sarah Palin is actually the Return of Supermom. Mother of five, moose killer, and marathoner, she was back at work three days after her son's birth, juggling a Blackberry and a breast pump while making Helen Reddy look like a slacker. Call her a role model or a parody, but the fresh face of 2008 looks like the exhausted face of the 1980s. The conservative virtue of Palin's life is that she doesn't need anything from anyone outside the family. She isn't lobbying for, say, maternity leave, equal pay, or universal pre-K. Let alone universal health insurance. Or college tuition breaks, especially for that soon-to-be-teen-mom and her soon-to-be husband. Compare this with the Wal-Mart mom juggling day-care fees and gas bills, fantasizing about a job with benefits and the flexibility to be home when the kids are sick.”
Work-life: A Bottom-Line Boon?
“While programs offering work-life flexibility for employees have been a staple of public accounting firms' recruiting and retention efforts, other companies could learn from their example — and not just to shore up their staff. The bottom line may benefit, too. That, at least, is the conclusion of research released on Wednesday by BDO Seidman, which interviewed 100 CFOs from a group of 1,800 whose companies have at least 5,000 employees. Three-quarters of the respondents said they think work-life programs have a "high" or "moderate" positive impact on productivity and on providing differentiation from competitors. Just more than half said they expect a high or moderate effect on health-care costs.”
Recruitment and Retention of Older Workers: Universal Design Solutions for Employers
“This brief describes the motivational factors that drive companies to focus on older workers, the cultural contexts of businesses that have undertaken these practices, and the range of recruitment and retention practices and initiatives they use.”
Blogs
Does Maternity Leave Affect Household Gender Roles?
“Earlier this summer, the New York Times ran an article on equal parenting about couples who are trying to share parenting and household duties 50-50, as opposed to the traditional model in which women do most of the child care and housework and men fill in when necessary. The piece–and your comments here–showed that truly equal parenting on a daily basis is not always easy to achieve, or even desirable. One reader pointed out that lengthy maternity leaves can play a role in exacerbating gender inequality in the home. When mom takes several months of maternity leave, but dad gets only a few days off, a care-giving-competence gap often develops between parents.”
Corzine Calls for Paid Family Leave, in New York
“Governors of one state are probably not supposed to meddle in legislative efforts in other states, but Gov. Jon S. Corzine of New Jersey gave enthusiastic backing on Monday morning to enacting paid family leave in New York State — indeed, throughout the nation. In New York, the push for paid leave for workers who take time off to care for a newborn or a sick family member has faltered, with the Democratic-controlled State Assembly approving such legislation, but the Republican-controlled Senate blocking it. Women’s groups, labor unions and the Working Families Party have pushed for paid family leave — the Assembly version would give up to 12 weeks’ paid leave — but business groups have fought the idea, arguing that it would impede business’s flexibility.”
How Your 'Power Drain' Ruins Your Work
“Is your Blackberry taking over your Sunday afternoons? I recently chatted with Henry Cloud, a clinical psychologist and author of The One-Life Solution, about establishing boundaries at work (he's coauthor of the book Boundaries ) and finding a successful balance in our personal and professional lives. Here is an excerpt of our conversation: What are some of the practices that support a successful work-life balance? The simple answer that never works is time management.”
Four-Day Work Week....
“Good, bad, or indifferent? I had the opportunity to talk about Congressman Hoyer’s (D) Four Day Work Week proposal last week while I was in Washington, D.C. I sure don’t want to throw cold water on federal government workers having a three day week-end; however, can they supply the services to American citizens in a 10 hour day, four day week? Will it withstand the time economically and what kind of hardships will it bear for 10 hour days at child care facilities?”
I'm Not Off: I'm Working At Home Today
“I’ve been working at home one day a week since my son was born four years ago, and I’ve been an evangelist for flexible schedules since we launched this blog. Working at home helps keep my work-life balance in check. But it still amazes me that people assume that if you are at home, you must be “off.” Both of my mothers (I’m the product of divorced, remarried parents) love to call me on the day I am working at home and ask what I’m doing on my “day off.” Ditto for my in-laws and friends. Ha! Instead of getting massages, pedicures, or enjoying long, leisurely lunches, I’m usually at my desk, working from home on Wednesdays.”
How Workplace Characteristics Impact Employee Wellbeing
“The workplace can help today’s diverse families to better manage their work-family stress, which can lead to a triple win— better emotional wellbeing, stronger family relationships, and enhanced work commitment.”
Global News
Downturn could hit diversity in the media
“The economic downturn could hit women and ethnic minorities working in the media harder than their white male colleagues, the chair of the Equality and Human Rights Commission, Trevor Phillips, said today. [. . .] He said that the prospect of a four- or five-year economic downturn could "reverse the limited advantages" that have been made relating to women and ethnic minorities in the media workplace. Phillips said that the first group to potentially feel the impact would be women, as in a downturn they could be viewed as "too expensive, too difficult" in respect of workplace flexibility policies.”
Nick Clegg says he will take paternity leave
“He told the party's Bournemouth conference he will take time off when his wife Miriam Gonzalez Durantez gives birth. She is due in February. Mr Clegg, 41, told delegates: "Yes I will take paternity leave, absolutely and unambiguously yes." He said combining politics and parenthood left him "constantly knackered". "Like all young parents with children - it's not just in politics it's in other jobs as well - you're constantly knackered, you're constantly slightly guilty because you don't think you have got the balance right, but you try."”
Extending the retirement age in an ageing economy
“In such a context it is most likely that the proposal to extend the retirement age would meet with opposition from many quarters. The most popular argument against this reform would be that it would deny employment opportunities to the young. This does have some validity but this argument is an exaggerated one. The amount of employment lost to those youth seeking employment would be negligible. Besides this in a country where employing youth in the public services is not on a rational basis, the amount of such loss is inconsequential. The fact is that the extension of the retirement age is indeed a necessary step in the context of the emerging scenario of an ageing population. Other countries facing a similar ageing population have in fact taken steps to extend the retirement age and in some developed countries given up the requirement of a retirement age completely. The reasons for extending the retirement age are indeed many.”