May 5, 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
Keep your sneezes out of the office
“Are you a mucus trooper? I found that reference in online stories in the British press about folks who come to work sick. It takes on a new urgency because of the swine flu outbreak, which is transmitted much like the regular flu is -- through everyday person-to-person contact at places like schools and offices. There's another word, too, for the impact the mucus troopers have on the workplace. It's called presenteeism -- when employees show up at work despite being ill. And it costs you and your employer plenty.”
Shift in family leave to workers' choice passes
“Employers could no longer force workers to use vacation time before dipping into family leave under a bill approved Monday by the Oregon House. The vote on House Bill 2821 was 34-23, split along party lines. Rep. Sal Esquivel, R-Medford, summed up the minority sentiment when he called the proposed requirement a detriment to business in Oregon. [. . .] A more controversial -- and more expensive -- family leave bill that would require paid time off remains stuck in the Senate. Witt said his bill came out of several complaints from constituents in his district. The bill now moves to the Senate.”
Recession can hit hard in families headed by women
“Single mom Linda Qualls of Philadelphia has been struggling to make ends meet for her and her three daughters since she was laid off from her job as a payroll clerk for the city of Philadelphia in January. Qualls, 39, had to apply for food stamps and government medical assistance, experiences that she said were "a little hurtful as far as my pride." But Qualls is trying to stay optimistic. She will complete a nursing certificate program in August and plans to continue on to become a registered nurse while working at night. She is collecting unemployment benefits and receives child support.”
The Cost of Staying Home Sick
“If President Obama is serious about responsible action to control infectious disease threats, he should back legislation to grant Americans at least seven paid sick days a year — long enough to stay home until an influenza infection subsides. Then virtually all Americans could heed his advice, and we would all be safer.”
U.S. Maternity Leave Benefits Are Still Dismal
“Cindy Lobel had worked as an assistant professor of history at Lehman College in the Bronx for two years when she had her son Ben. Like many professional women, after giving birth, she got three months' leave--unpaid--from Lehman, which is part of the public City University of New York. "I would have loved to stay home with him for a year, but there was no way we could afford it," says the Brooklyn mom, who's married to an online technology-news editor. Instead, she was able to stay home for her allotted 12 weeks by cobbling together a partially paid leave using the 20 sick days she had accrued at the college. Now, the professor is hoping she--and her son, now 8-months--don't get sick any time soon.”
Economy pushes boomers out of golden years into workforce
“Beset by threadbare retirement accounts and encouraged by a longer life, more older people are delaying retirement or launching into new jobs, with projections showing the graying workforce dramatically increasing in the next five to 10 years. In Colorado, 95,913 people older than 65 will be working in 2010. Just five years later, that number is expected to jump to almost 150,000, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Economists and labor experts say the larger number of older employees will change not only the look of the workplace. Older workers may also shift the pace and feel of the typical workweek, demanding flexibility to work part-time hours and from home.”
Workers like staying home
“The concept of telecommuting — employees working from home or another remote location instead of the office — has been around for decades. It was touted as an answer to the energy crisis in the 1970s, heralded in the 1980s as a way to balance work and family, and now is being lauded as a way to boost productivity and trim facilities costs. Telecommuting isn’t as popular as ’70s futurists predicted. But its use is on the rise, and many predict that it will become more widespread as employers overcome concerns about how to keep information secure and monitor remote workers’ productivity. Area call centers, for example, have home agents log onto a secure server, and they use the same methods to measure productivity as they use at the center.”
Blogs
Job Sharing as an Alternative Work Option
“Flexible work schedules come in every shape and size. Job sharing is just one type of work arrangement that offers employees flexibility and, in turn, the opportunity for an approved work-life balance. But what exactly is job sharing? It's just what sounds like--employees share job duties as a way to reduce each person's job duties. Essentially, job sharing is a type of part-time work. It involves two or more workers who are responsible for the duties and tasks of one full-time position. Some job shares are set up so that each employee handles specific duties. Other job shares have a less formal division of duties. In either set up, the employees coordinate their schedules so that the regular "shift" is always covered. When one job sharer is not working, the other is. There is usually some overlap in scheduling to enable the sharers to communicate. The division of time can be split evenly but any assignment can be successful.”
Want to Know What People Expect of You? Ask!
“A friend and I recently discussed how few people ever ask others what they can do to improve their relationships or better meet another person’s needs. We usually assume we know what other people need from us and act accordingly. Think about how much time and energy we spend trying to balance the demands of our work and personal life based solely on what we believe is needed to succeed as a parent, an employee, or a friend. What keeps us from asking others what they need from us? Is it our fears? Are we are afraid of the response we might get? Are we afraid of having to change our current behaviors? Do we deny that we could ever be part of the unbalance in our work-life problems?”
Test Your Perceptions vs. Work + Life Reality - NSCW Implications
“My recent conversation with a female MBA student at one of the top business schools provides a perfect example. She called to interview me for the student newspaper and wanted some tips for women MBAs about how to manage their work and life after they got out of school. My first tip—“Realize that managing work and life isn’t just an issue for women. In fact, men report higher levels of work-life conflict.” Not surprisingly, she responded, “What? Really?” It wasn’t until I showed her the results of the NSCW, and she confirmed the findings with male MBA students that she began to understand how outdated her assumptions were.”
The Variable in Work Life Balance
“On Saturday I was at the Nantucket Conference (the 10th one.) I did not have a great time getting there (note to self – you get seasick even on the high speed boat thing) but I had a great time hanging out, participating (I was on the VC panel), seeing a bunch of people I hadn’t seen for a while, and meeting some new ones. At the lobster dinner, Josh Kopelman (who was on the VC panel with me) grabbed a few minutes to go sit in a corner and catch up on Gnip - one of the companies we are both investors in. A crowd developed and our conversation eventually turned to Work Life Balance.”
Global News
Stressing the need for breaks
“A 2007 United Nations study found New Zealand was fourth-highest among developed nations for the greatest percentage of workers putting in more than a 48-hour week. Around 23.6 per cent were doing more than 48 hours, compared to 20 per cent of Australian workers. The work-life imbalance may be making us stressed and sick, and affecting family life. "It's not just working harder, but concerns about job stability that contributes to stress," O'Driscoll says.”
Time is running out for early retirement
“More than four million people have been warned that they will have to wait up to five years to get their hands on their pensions if they don’t take action fast. A quick decision is needed because the Government is increasing the minimum age that you can take pension benefits, from 50 to 55, on April 6 next year. It is a stark choice for the one million people who will reach 50 in the next 12 months. Overnight they will lose access to their pension until 2015. The jump in the minimum retirement age also means that more than three million people aged between 50 and 54 need to decide whether they would benefit from taking their pension now or sit back and wait.”