August 25, 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
Military wife/mother fights her own special battle
“One in an occasional series. Any day now, Lisa Mathews' husband will be on American soil after a yearlong tour of duty in Iraq. When his week of deployment-ending activities at Fort Dix is over, Staff Sgt. Joseph Mathews II, an Army National Guardsman in the 56th Stryker Brigade Combat Team, will walk through the front door of his Northeast Philadelphia rowhouse. He will be back into the daily, chaotic lives of his wife and children. Only then, when the family is reunited, will Lisa be done with her contribution to the military - serving as the lone caretaker of their five children, three of whom have special needs.”
Achieving Happiness: Being at your best at work and home
“For years social scientists explored how to help parents achieve work/family balance. But recently researchers have exposed the limitations of looking at work and family in terms of having a scarcity of time to fulfill the obligations of these two essential elements of life. Trying to achieve balance assumes that time is the appropriate metric to measure whether a parent is being successful on the job as well as in their family. This sets parents up to see life as filled with clashes and conflicts between spending too much time at work or with family - the proverbial no-win scenario.”
As Way To Save, Companies Mandate Telecommuting
“There was a time when people wanted to work from home. Gas prices were climbing, commuting became a hassle and employees started begging their bosses for permission to telecommute. Now, in the midst of a recession that's claimed thousands of jobs and shut down several businesses in Connecticut, the tables have turned. Companies, looking for anywhere other than their payroll to cut, are sending their workers home to save on energy bills and real estate costs — whether the workers like it or not.”
With Dad Laid Off, Finding Ways to Hold On
“Losing his job has wounded Mr. Winkler’s self-esteem and strained his 14-year marriage. In the lexicon of the modern recession, he has found himself at the center of the ‘man-cession,’ the downturn that has hit men much harder than women. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the gap in the male-to-female jobless rate is at a record high: 2.4 percent — 10 percent for men and 7.6 percent for women. While Ms. Sanchez says the hardship has brought the family closer together, Mr. Winkler conceded that sometimes too much time with a spouse can seem like a bad thing. They have found that fights about Ms. Sanchez’s spending too much at the mall have been replaced with arguments about how best to discipline the kids.”
Working couples try to do it all
“The 42-year-old mother of three is like a lot of working parents. She starts her day early and, with her husband, Bob, they work both ends of the clock to fit in all the daily duties of parents who work outside the home. Ferrying kids to soccer and football games, to band practice and guitar lessons, working parents try to do it all - and then some. [. . .] Nearly 62 percent of married-couple families saw both husband and wife working outside the home in 2007, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. Only four other states had higher rates. In Illinois, it was 55 percent. The national average was 53 percent. Iowa's rural heritage and its history as a low-wage state have previously been cited as contributors to the relatively high percentage of dual-working couples in the state. Non-married couples also have high rates of dual-working members, Census figures show.”
Aitken Guides HR Organization Through Policy, Politics
“’Politics drives policy,’ said Aitken, who has been at SHRM for six years and was a lobbyist for another HR professional association for 14 years before that. ‘It’s important to understand that relationship.’ He illustrated the dynamic in the March conference when discussing the prospects for a bill, the Healthy Families Act, that would require companies to offer employees seven paid sick days annually. It is sponsored by Sen. Edward Kennedy, D-Massachusetts, who is battling a brain tumor. The measure may be moved along quickly by his congressional colleagues as a way to honor Kennedy.”
Blogs
Are you ready?
“National Preparedness Month starts next week. This year, in addition to stressing the necessary preparations for natural disasters such as hurricanes and wildfires, the focus will be on a new challenge: pandemic flu. [. . .] Preparedness is also about making sure employees are up-to-date on their telework policies and training in case employees need to be quarantined or offices need to close to prevent the spread of the virus, Sawislak said in an interview. GSA sets telework policy for the government and runs telework centers for federal agencies. ‘It’s important to be equipped and trained to do it and to have other people know how to work with [teleworkers] when they’re not in the office,’ Sawislak said.”
Should Work Make Us Happy?
“According to Swiss philosopher Alain de Botton, we are living in a unique era, when we are encouraged to seek happiness through work. The idea of work as a source of fulfillment has been around much longer (championed by Benjamin Franklin in the 18th century), as has work as a source of meaning (articulated by Victor Frankl in the 1940s). Yet work as a source of happiness is something else. De Botton believes that while work has been important in all societies, it is now so closely tied up with our identity that the first question we ask new acquaintances is not where they come from, but what they do.”
City Council and Bloomberg Need to Act Now to Avoid Public Health Crisis
“The City Council took an important step last Thursday to avert a potential health crisis in New York City. A bill was introduced by council member Gale Brewer that would guarantee every worker in the city -- full-time, part-time, or temporary -- paid sick days. Now that the bill has been introduced, it needs to be passed--quickly and without any substantial changes that would weaken the bill's effectiveness. [. . .] Although the new bill has the support of a broad coalition and 36 members of the City Council, the public is still waiting for a strong endorsement from Mayor Bloomberg. At the Working Families Party mayoral forum last month, the Mayor offered qualified support, but expressed concern about the impact on small businesses.”
Returning to Work After Postpartum Depression
“When a perfectionist has a baby, things can fall apart very quickly. As an editor here at the Journal I could skillfully edit a complex finance story, calm a testy reporter, put out a graphics fire and give an intern advice, all at the same time, and all while maintaining my composure. So when my husband and I found out we were expecting a baby, I thought, compared to my work life, how hard could it be to keep a tiny human fed, warm and clean? As it turned out, some of the personality traits that made me good at my job were also psychological risk factors for postpartum depression, or PPD. I was a classic Type-A, perfectionist control freak. Great for editing, not so great for childrearing.”
Global News
'Laid-back' Aussies? Think Again
“Recent studies have shown that Australia is a nation of strivers, not skivers (that's Aussie slang for "lazy"). They are among the most overworked people in the world, more at home behind a desk than catching a wave. In a 23-country study, Australia ranked among the worst — alongside the U.S. and U.K. — in terms of long working hours, occupational stress and poor work-life balance. Since 1964, the average working week for white collar workers has gone up by more than 10 hours. Australian Bureau of Statistics data had shown that by 2007 almost a third of Australians worked unsocial hours. The average working week was 44 hours, with 35 percent of male full-time workers and 19 percent of full-time working women slaving away for 50 hours or more a week.”
Staff on mobiles 'work extra hours'
“Staff with mobile technology such as Blackberries work an extra 15 hours a week as they constantly check emails even when leaving the office, new research has found. A survey of more than 600 employees revealed many were turning into workaholics because of the ability to receive and send messages and work online even when they were at home. Employment law firm Peninsula said the working week was being extended to around 55 hours for many people and urged employers to make sure their staff were not breaching working time regulations.”
Mental health support for workers
“People with mental health problems will get extra support to help manage their condition so they can remain in the workplace, the government has said. The move comes after pilot schemes that were said to be 90% successful in helping people with fluctuating mental health conditions retain their jobs. The government-led pilots were run with mental health charity Mind.”