January 30, 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
Time to put the middle class front and center
“One of the things that makes this task force distinctive is it brings together — in one place — those agencies that have the most impact on the well-being of the middle class in our country. We'll be looking at everything from access to college and training with the Department of Education, to business development with the Department of Commerce, to child care reform with Health and Human Services, to labor law with the Department of Labor. With this task force, we'll have a single, high-visibility group with one goal: to raise the living standards of middle-class families. Over the upcoming months, we will focus on answering those concerns that matter most to families. What can we do to make retirement more secure? How can we make child and elder care more affordable? How do we improve workplace safety? How are we going to get the cost of college within reach? What can we do to help weary parents juggle work and family? And, above all else, what are the jobs of the future? Here, we'll be looking at green jobs, better-paying jobs, better-quality jobs.”
RPT - Flexible work arrangements ride US economic tides
“While flexible work arrangements are nothing new, in tough economic times some companies use telecommuting or job sharing to attract, keep and encourage employees, experts say. [. . .] Flexibility can mean letting workers shift hours once in a while, offering choices to only a few employees or working entirely from home, Lee said. [. . .] The practice of flexible scheduling more than doubled from 1985 through the 1990s, but has not grown in the past decade, according to the Public Policy Institute of the AARP, a nonprofit organization designed to help people over age 50.”
American Workforce Shifts to More Part-time Jobs
“Some 2.5 million full-time jobs have evaporated in the last 13 months, contributing to what's being called the "gig economy." But there is a convergence of other, more developed trends at play as well. Tight-budgeted company managers long ago embraced outsourcing to only pay for what they can use. A new generation of workers has 24/7 connectivity, lacks corporate loyalty, and thinks like (if the McCain/Palin contingent will give us back the word) mavericks. Put them together and you get gigonomics. [. . .] Contingent workers--including part-timers, freelancers and contractors--consistently made up about 30 percent of the workforce between 1996 and 2005, according to the U.S. Government Accountability Office. That number might be higher the next time they measure: In the last year alone, the number of people working part-time because they couldn't find full-time work almost doubled from 4.5 million to nearly 8 million.”
Creating a positive workplace
“’It was almost fate,’ Kathie Frier says with a big grin. She beams in all directions as she talks about her new job leading UB’S Wellness and Work/Life Balance office, a Human Resources unit dedicated to improving life on campus for UB employees. [. . .] ‘This job is a great fit for me because I try to keep a positive outlook, and that’s what our office tries to do for employees—create a more flexible, positive workplace,’ she says. With help from her staff, Frier develops programs that promote wellness and a better balance between work and life. She says she draws from her own life for ideas and motivation. ‘This job hits close to home in many ways.’”
Work vs. Life: Achieving a finer balance between the two
“As a corporate executive, Jeff Wolf worked 14-hour days. [. . .] Years later, he powered down his laptop, locked his office door and stepped into the warm sunshine to enjoy a weekday afternoon with his family, having attained that elusive, mythical state of "work-life balance." The concept of work-life balance has been part of the lexicon of working America for almost 30 years, introduced as a response to the dilemma of workers forced to choose between job and family, work and everything else. Yet despite the professed desire of employees to achieve that balance and reduce work-related stress, studies have shown that the average American full-time worker's hours have actually increased over time.”
White House Unbuttons Formal Dress Code
“Although his presidency is barely a week old, some of Mr. Obama’s work habits are already becoming clear. He shows up at the Oval Office shortly before 9 in the morning, roughly two hours later than his early-to-bed, early-to-rise predecessor. Mr. Obama likes to have his workout — weights and cardio — first thing in the morning, at 6:45. (Mr. Bush slipped away to exercise midday.) He reads several papers, eats breakfast with his family and helps pack his daughters, Malia, 10, and Sasha, 7, off to school before making the 30-second commute downstairs — a definite perk for a man trying to balance work and family life. He eats dinner with his family, then often returns to work; aides have seen him in the Oval Office as late as 10 p.m., reading briefing papers for the next day. ‘Even as he is sober about these challenges, I have never seen him happier,’ Mr. Axelrod said. ‘The chance to be under the same roof with his kids, essentially to live over the store, to be able to see them whenever he wants, to wake up with them, have breakfast and dinner with them — that has made him a very happy man.’”
Retirees find Huntsville is a good place to start again
“John Pepper and Jerry Nabors retired the same day - Dec. 31, 1999 - from the Army Aviation and Missile Research Development and Engineering Center. They're working together again, in post-retirement jobs as systems analysts with Huntsville-based Intuitive Research and Technology. ‘We both felt we had something to offer,’ said Nabors, 69, who retired after 40 years of civil service work at Redstone Arsenal. Working at Intuitive gives Nabors a sense of accomplishment, a way to keep his mind active. And Intuitive allows him and Pepper to work part time and keep flexible hours.”
Port Huron firefighter battles for workplace justice for all women
“The principle at stake is whether we, as a society, will recognize that for women to have equal opportunity at work, the workplace must take account of pregnancy. It's a predictable medical event, unique to women, and women are in the workforce to stay. Forcing pregnant women out of their jobs also undermines our collective interest in families' economic security. And it's precisely why Finn has filed a discrimination charge against Port Huron with the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.”
Family leave law expansion mulled
“The paid-family-leave program that the governor suspended to save money could reappear, only bigger. It would be paid for with a 2-cents-an-hour payroll tax on most employees. Any such tax would have to be approved by voters, but the chairwoman of the state Senate Health Care Committee is confident that the public would approve it. ‘All polling shows it will pass,’ Sen. Karen Keiser, D-Kent, said Wednesday. ‘It's not rocket science. People need some help balancing work and family, and they don't need to chose between jobs and family.’ [. . .] But Keiser said a new bill that will be introduced soon will not only revive the program, but expand benefits to those caring for sick parents or other family members. She also said President Barack Obama has been supportive of similar programs, and some federal money might be available to finish Washington's computer system.”
Government Gets High Marks From Student Job-Seekers
“Uncle Sam as boss man must be doing something right. A survey released yesterday by the Partnership for Public Service and Universum USA says that five federal government agencies are among the top 15 "ideal" employers in the view of college students. The agencies were picked from 260 employers in a survey of 32,000 undergraduates. [. . .]The government looks good to students compared with the private sector on the work-life question, because many agencies offer flexible work hours, telecommuting, day-care centers and fitness facilities.”
Blogs
Part-Time Partners: A Notable Trend in the Legal Profession
“When it comes to statistics about part-time attorneys, it is impossible to deny two findings: working part-time is an option few take and the majority of those who do are women. According to the latest figures compiled by the National Association for Law Placement, 5.6 percent of U.S. attorneys work part-time, and about 74 percent of them are women. It is also hard to deny that traditionally, women attorneys who work part-time find themselves losing traction when it comes to their salaries and promotion. Yet, these statistics and assumptions tell only part of the story. Over the last decade some law firms have adopted more progressive policies which permit part-time women to not only retain respect for their work, but to make partner. The policies of these firms and the experiences of these part-time partners provide valuable insight into how work/life balance can be achieved despite dedication to profitability.”
Work/ Family Promises of Obama
“Obamamania continues. This weekend I visited a friend at his parents’ house. Charming, loving, and completely normal under most circumstances, his parents had erected an Obama-shrine, displaying magazine covers, newspapers, and DNC postcards bearing our new president’s handsome mug along the piano. Does the American public have high expectations of Obama? You betcha. Here at The Lattice Group, we’ll be watching, hawk-like, the Administration’s every move on work/family issues. The promises are big…”
Global News
When Less is More
“The other obvious way to provide a quick boost to the economy is by giving employers tax incentives for shortening their standard workweek or work year. This can take different forms. An employer who currently provides no paid vacation can offer all her workers three weeks a year of paid vacation, approximately a 6% reduction in work time. Alternatively, employers may cut the standard workweek, say from 40 hours to 36 hours, a 10% reduction in work hours. Employers could also adopt policies such as offering workers paid sick leave. If this averaged five days a year, this would come to a reduction in hours of 2%. They could even offer paid parental leave. These policies would bring the US in line with the rest of the world. In other wealthy countries, paid vacation time is standard, with the average being close to five weeks a year. Similarly, the US is the only wealthy country that does not require employers to give workers paid time off for parenting or to provide paid sick days.”
The rise of the 'mousewife': How mothers at home are using their computers to beat the recession
“Britain’s mothers are turning into a nation of 'mousewives’ - by using home computers to boost their household income during the recession. In between running the home and taking care of children, almost half of stay-at-home mothers use the internet and emails to raise some extra cash, a study found. The average mousewife spends six hours and eight minutes a week on computer-based jobs in make-shift home offices. And it is clearly paying off with one in 20 earning at least £200 a month from the using a computer mouse at home. More than 13 per cent use them to sell their books, DVDs, and CDs on auction websites while four per cent helping businesses do their accounts. Other popular money-making schemes include reviewing events or products, setting up websites and even putting their typing skills to good use.”