April 28, 2009 .
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
House OKs state worker leave for CASA volunteering
“The House today gave final approval to a bill that gives state employees paid time off to volunteer with Court Appointed Special Advocates, a group that advocates for abused and neglected children. The proposal, House Bill 1462, prompted some 20 minutes of bickering over whether it violates peoples’ rights or diminishes volunteers, but eventually it passed 87-57. “We’re taking taxpayer money and we’re paying people to do a job,” said Rep. Debbie Riddle, R-Tomball. Under the bill, state workers could take five hours of paid leave a month to work for CASA, which would not be deducted from vacation time, sick leave, earned overtime credit or state compensatory time.”
Paid Family Leave Bill Advances In Oregon Legislature
“Some Oregon lawmakers are resurrecting the idea of paying workers who take extended leaves of absence to care for family members. The same proposal died near the end of the 2007 session. A Senate committee voted Monday to try again. Salem correspondent Chris Lehman reports. Right now if you work for a business that has 25 employees or more, Oregon law allows you to take up to 12 weeks off to care for a sick family member or when a child is born. The bill’s sponsor, Democratic Senator Diane Rosenbaum, says this measure would create a statewide pool so that workers could get at least some money for up to half that time.”
As Pay Cuts Replace Perks, Associates Keep Heads Down
“Although the economy clearly is prompting some attorneys not to pursue flexible and part-time work schedules, the part-time movement is not "dying on the vine," said Joan Williams, co-director of the Project for Attorney Retention. Both Williams and Henry said they have noticed that firms that haven't been serious about developing comprehensive flexible work schedule programs in the past are discouraging attorneys from pursuing that option right now, and are even targeting some part-time attorneys in their layoffs. The flip side is that some forward-thinking firms that have good track records with flexible schedules are using the downturn to create more opportunities for attorneys to work part-time and flexible schedules.”
Work-life balance is priority for younger physicians: survey
“A major retention and recruitment issue that was previously a gender issue—work-life balance—is now a generational issue. Younger doctors of both genders are making the same demands that were once the domain of young mothers in medical practice, says Joseph Scopelliti, M.D., president of Guthrie Clinic, Sayre, Pa., and a designated speaker who is an expert in the annual Physician Retention Survey by the American Medical Group Association, based in Alexandria, Va., and Cejka Search, the St. Louis-based physician search firm. Scopelliti says that the major difference between younger doctors and older ones, according to the survey, is workplace culture expectations that relate to work-life balance. Younger physicians want limited on-call hours and predictable schedules.”
Hart to Heart: Stay-at-home mom says 'No thanks, Dr. Laura'
“As a stay-at-home mom, I'm supposed to agree with you. I'm supposed to thank you for your 16th book, "In Praise of Stay-at-Home Moms," which exalts mothers like me who give up their jobs to remain at home. But, to quote Alaska Gov. Sara Palin, a work-outside-the-home mom, "Thanks, but no thanks.'' I disagree with your stance that ALL moms should stay home for the first five years of their children's lives. How can you declare unilaterally that each and every mother and child are better off at home? Instead, I uphold a mom's ability to choose the right work-life balance and child care arrangement for her family. Yes, Dr. Laura, some moms can be breadwinners and breadmakers. And be good at both.”
Arizona lawmakers juggle day jobs, legislative duties
“The job of state legislator is a part-time gig, designed by the founders to be a "citizen's legislature" rather than the domain of full-time professional politicians. The $24,000 a year salary aims to underscore the part-time nature of the job, but the demands of the work keep lawmakers at the Capitol four days a week, often for the first six months of the year, making it difficult to hold down a conventional 8-to-5 job. Some legislators are retired, others are self-employed and still others juggle their work schedule around the often-unpredictable hours of the legislative session.”
Workplace Flexibility: Findings from the Age & Generations Study
“Flexible workplaces are ‘all the rage.’ Why? In part, because flexible work options have the potential to contribute to workplace effectiveness and can offer benefits to employees as well as to the organizations where they work. There is ample evidence that employees of all ages and across career stages seek options for work flexibility. A 2008 survey by Randstat found that flexible work hours are among the top three benefits employees identify as contributing to ‘happiness at the workplace,’ with more than 4 of every 10 of the employees indicating that flexible work hours and increased paid time off are important, just after competitive pay and health insurance (See Figure 1, page 2.)”
Blogs
"Stay Home...See a Doctor." But What If You Can't
“’If you're sick,’ government officials are saying, "stay home, get treatment, go see a doctor.’ It's good advice, even when the swine flu isn't in circulation. But not everybody can follow the advice so easily. If you read this blog, you already know that many millions of Americans don't go to the doctor because they can't pay their medical bills. What you may not know is that many millions of Americans don't take sick days, either, because their employers don't offer paid medical leave. Research by the Urban Institute suggests that around half of all private sector workers don't have paid medical leave. Among people working in lower-wage positions, the proportion without paid medical leave is even higher: 76 percent, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.”
When Working Parents Face Discrimination For Having "Full Plates"
“For parents who face discrimination at work, courts and regulators are increasingly stepping in. In a recent example, a federal lawsuit by a mother with a big-league juggle — six-year-old triplets, an 11-year-old son, a full-time job, college courses at night and a husband who works nights and weekends – advanced a step. Court papers show the mother, Laurie Chadwick of Maine, had a good nine-year track record on her job for an insurance company when she decided to seek a promotion. She’d been promoted once and was getting good performance reviews.”
If I Knew Then What I Know Now...
“This new reality is more prevalent today than ever. Women coming out of college have decisions to make in order to chart their course of establishing their careers and lives. If they are forward thinking, they are looking at how to integrate those careers into a future partnership, extended family unit, and possibly motherhood. How do you know what form of work / life balance is right for you? Each person is unique and therefore each person’s needs are different. We can and should educate this next generation with our own road maps. You can stay on the main highway, take the scenic route, or make a detour either willingly or because life just has a way of doing that to you. Would it not be a critical part of their decision making as they construct the framework for their lives?”
Do women feel more guilty than men taking time off work?
“According to Expedia's ninth annual Vacation Deprivation survey we do. A poll of 1,500 adults conducted this March revealed that 40 percent of U.S. women feel guilty taking a vacation from work, while only 29 percent of men do. And while both sexes receive an average of 13 vacation days from their employer, men are more likely to take a two-week vacation each year than women (12 percent of men take off two weeks straight, while 8 percent of women do). My first thought upon seeing these stats was, "There we women go again, selling ourselves short." After all, plenty of ink has been spilled about how men are more likely to negotiate salary and benefits than women -- and how women who do negotiate are sometimes penalized for it.”
Global News
Working time opt-out remains as talks collapse
“The UK has retained its right to allow workers to opt out of a maximum 48-hour working week after talks collapsed in Brussels last night. Last night's negotiations were the latest in a series of meetings on the working time directive which have failed to break the deadlock between the European parliament demanding a deadline for scrapping the opt-out, and governments offering to accept an absolute working hour ceiling of 65 hours a week in return for keeping the right to exceed 48 hours. The failure to reach an agreement means workers in the UK and more than a dozen other states will continue to be given the right to choose to work longer than the maximum 48-hour working week.”
EI unfair to moms let go on leave
“The way in which the Employment Insurance Act treats parents who lose their jobs during or after the period in which they received maternity or parental benefits is unfair and discriminatory. A woman is entitled to 15 weeks of maternity leave benefits and up to 35 weeks of parental leave benefits unless her spouse uses some of those parental benefits. Although more men are starting to use parental leave benefits, more often than not it is still the women who use the combined 50 weeks. During that 50-week period, unlike regular Employment Insurance recipients, they don't have to look for work.”