February 20, 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
Getting Back to Work After a Year-Long Break to Help an Aging Parent
“Many workers are faced with child-care demands and at the other end of the life spectrum, caring for aging parents and often having to take time off or quit jobs to tend to their needs. It, of course, can be an energy-draining and time-consuming proposition to care for parents at the end of their lives, however morally proper and rewarding that may be emotionally. And then, even after parents have often died, workers face a new shock: Some employers might wonder why you haven't been working for a year or more and all but sneer at the fact that you took time off to do the right thing, care for parents when they needed it most. How do you respond to that?”
Work-Life balance is suffering from economic stress
“The nation's widening recession is reshaping the lives of working parents, disrupting not only their fragile balance of job and family but how they think about that elusive goal. It turns out working parents are hurting themselves by asking for less in an economy that seems to get worse by the week. Around Seattle and the nation, new moms are cutting short maternity leaves, while parents are logging more hours at work and are less likely to seek time off, experts suggest. "Parents may censor themselves," said Heidi Hartmann, president of the Institute for Women's Policy Research in Washington, D.C. "They wouldn't want to stand out as someone who needs things, the needy employee." The recession also is disturbing maternity leaves, as mothers squeeze job hunting in between nursing and diaper changing.”
Everywhere an Office
“More people are working away from their offices -- and besides heading to the home office or kitchen table, they're going to a client's workplace more often. The number of people who work remotely at least once a month grew 39 percent from 2006 to 2008, and is up 74 percent since 2005, according to WorldatWork, a human resources association, and Dieringer Research Group. Their report, based on a telephone survey of 1,002 workers, estimates 11 percent of all workers telecommute at least once a month. Driving the gains were the spread of high-speed Internet and last year's spike in gas prices, as well as more work-life programs.”
Cancer Survivors Struggle to Find Jobs, Study Finds
“Lori Siegel did not even wait for her hair to grow back. Still feeling the effects of radiation treatments, she sent her résumé to potential employers, bought a new suit and a wig that does not look like a wig, and started going on job interviews. But so far there have been no offers, and she is convinced that the nine-month gap in her work history gives her away. “It’s like I’m hiding something awful because I got sick,” said Ms. Siegel, 51, who lives on Long Island and is recovering from breast cancer. “I don’t want to bring it up, but I don’t want to lie.” For Ms. Siegel and many other cancer survivors, money is tight and going back to work a financial necessity. But one of the first big analyses to examine employment rates among American and European cancer survivors has found that they are at significantly higher risk for joblessness than healthy counterparts.”
Paid Family Leave in Oregon
“Your husband suffers a heart attack. Your baby's due any minute. Your elderly mom needs hospice care. This is life, in any economy. It's crazy we don't have insurance for it. Oregon lawmakers have the opportunity this spring to approve paid family leave, a worker-funded insurance program that would cost pennies per paycheck. This insurance might sound like a frill to those lucky few workers in Oregon with incredible benefits and recession-proof jobs, but it's a lifeline for everyone else.”
Milwaukee Country judge halts city's sick pay ordinance
“A Milwaukee County circuit judge on Friday halted enforcement of Milwaukee's paid sick-day ordinance, just four days before the measure was scheduled to go into effect. Before a packed courtroom of ordinance supporters and opponents, with many spilling into the hall where a monitor was set up so they could follow the proceedings, Judge Thomas R. Cooper granted the temporary injunction sought by the Metropolitan Milwaukee Association of Commerce. The business organization called the ordinance a job killer for the city and has challenged the legality of the measure, which was passed with 69% of the vote in the Nov. 4 election. Supporters argue that workers should not be forced to choose between being sick or caring for a sick child and a paycheck.”
Reinventing the Way We Work
“Today, many companies — dogged by the challenges of maintaining a stable and high-quality work force amid global competition and a wobbly economy — are recognizing that these outdated models leave much to be desired. Both workers and companies need something better. And increasingly, at least some of them are getting it. These are the employers and employees who have been leading a quiet revolution: the work flexibility movement. It’s a trend toward more fully empowering workers, and then providing them with workplace options that support a better brand of work-life balance. Some of the most common manifestations of work flexibility include flextime (adjustable starting and quitting times on a full-time schedule), compressed scheduling (often five days’ work in four), telecommuting, job sharing, guaranteed time off for personal needs, phased retirement and part-year work. There are also various schemes that readjust the work day, work month and work year, or even how a major phase of a career is planned.”
Blogs
The Sloan Network Publishes New Mini-Brief: Work-Family Information on Small Business
“Across the country, new state legislative sessions have begun, many with a focus on supporting working families. While many constituents welcome these efforts, small businesses are one group that has traditionally opposed these proposals. With 80% of all U.S. businesses having 20 or fewer employees, it is important that legislators and advocates have a clear picture of how small businesses approach work and family issues. To help state policy makers better understand the small business perspective on work-family legislative mandates, the Sloan Network has released a new research mini-brief, entitled Work-Family Information on Small Businesses. The mini-brief summarizes the small business viewpoint on work-family legislation, including paid sick days and paid family leave, underscoring both the concerns of and benefits to small businesses.”
Why Flexible Downsizing Is a Win-Win Initiative
“The four-day work week is very popular among public employers these days. Employers who have implemented a compressed work week program successfully say they've enjoyed benefits such as saved energy costs, decreased absenteeism, and improved employee morale resulting from the change. I don't believe that a four-day work week is the solution of all solutions, as some have claimed. But I do believe that there are certain organizations that, because of their structure and purpose, can be good models for the program. The ideal candidates, though, are almost always government employers. A mandatory four-day work week, generally, is not realistic in the private sector.”
Charity Begins at Home
“ Too many of us trot out the excuse, "I want to volunteer, but I can't get there because ..." Thanks to the Internet, phone, and virtual work of all kinds, that is no longer viable. "Virtual volunteering" is now a big part of the volunteer sector. My 84-year-old mom has a tough time getting around in the winter, but she volunteers from her living room as a phone screener for families seeking social services. She is not alone. There are "virtual jobs" of all kinds that can be done from your home and have real impact on issues you care about—from part-time Web designer, to fundraiser, to Wikipedia content screener, to homework tutor. If you want to go global, even the United Nations has a great resource for online volunteering. ”
The Law of Alternative Work Arrangements: Furloughs, Reduced Work-Weeks & Flexible Work Arrangements
“As employers look for alternatives to layoffs during these tough economic times, there are numerous options to cut costs. Those options include work furloughs, reduced work-weeks or reduced salaries, and flexible work arrangements. Yet, employers must take care to structure those measures to avoid legal pitfalls. Leila Narvid of Payne & Fears LLP in San Francisco believes that these options have the benefit of avoiding the decrease in morale that inevitably comes with layoffs. At the same time, she says that ‘unless carefully planned and regulated, they can expose employers to liability for wage and hour violations.’”
Global News
Japan: Recession Spurs "Work-Sharing" To Avoid Layoffs
“Yasuo Igarashi spends a lot of time these days on the jungle gym with his daughter, after his employer joined the growing ranks of Japanese companies adopting "work-sharing" to ride out the global slump. Common in parts of Europe, work-sharing means slashing employees' pay and hours instead of firing people outright. Two or three people might share what previously was one person's job. The idea is that employees are required to share the pain of coping with hard times while everyone gets to keep their jobs _ even if they're paid less. Work-sharing is the latest buzzword in Japan Inc. Proponents say it's a good way to avoid American-style layoffs in a society that has long fostered lifetime employment. Toyota Motor Corp., Mazda Motor Corp., Toshiba Corp. and Fujitsu Inc., have all taken up some kind of work-sharing. Nissan Motor Co. and others are considering it.”
Finnish trade unions would prefer shortened working hours to lay-offs
“Much has been written lately about the merits of Finland's system of temporary lay-offs as an alternative to outright redundancies when companies feel the need to downsize. However, there are voices that suggest an alternative approach might be still better. The Finnish employee organisations take a positive attitude towards the German labour force policy whereby the employees of a given company can work shorter hours for a certain period, while the state pays the employee 60-67% of the lost earnings. Moreover, the company is also entitled to apply for some compensation, provided that it does not dismiss its employees permanently. In Germany a large number of employees have started the so-called Kurzarbeit (”short-time work”), while the Finnish version of organising work for everybody is to announce temporary lay-offs: scaracely a day has passed lately without notice of such moves.”