May 12, 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.
Reports
Public Policy Platform on Flexible Work Arrangements
On Wednesday, May 13, Workplace Flexibility 2010 will release a comprehensive set of policy solutions to expand Americans’ access to flexible work arrangements such as compressed workweeks, predictable schedules, and telecommuting.
The report represents the culmination of a five-year process of listening to employer, employee and consumer representatives – and provides a detailed blueprint for the White House, Congress and other policymakers to build on innovative workplace flexibility strategies. It also provides numerous examples of effective business practices, and comes on the heels of First Lady Michelle Obama’s challenge to find ways to encourage employers to provide more flexibility to employees.
Articles
New Jersey Women Lawyers Choose Flexible Workplaces
“A new report by the New Jersey State Employment and Training Commission Council on Gender Parity in Labor and Education, based on a Lawyer imagestudy conducted by Rutgers University’s Center for Women and Work, finds that women lawyers are taking control of their lives by choosing employers that support flexible workplaces. The report, “Legal Talent at the Crossroads: Why New Jersey Women Lawyers Leave their Law Firms and Why They Choose to Stay,” sheds light on the reasons women choose to leave their employers and provides recommendations that can help law firms achieve greater success in the advancement and retention of women. The report is based on a survey of more than 520 women lawyers in New Jersey as well as interviews and focus groups involving managing partners and others.”
Do Everybody a Favor: Take a Sick Day
“My patient was a 25-year-old man. He sat on the examination table, the picture of misery, coughing, red-eyed and shivering. His fever was 103. An interview and an examination suggested influenza (the rapid diagnostic test for flu wasn’t available at that time), but there was little I could offer him, other than ibuprofen and some homespun advice. “Go home and get to bed,” I told him. He looked at me. “Bed? I’ve got to get back to work.” He put on his jacket and power tie and headed back to Wall Street. I was appalled. Work in that condition? How could he even think straight with that fever? Whom else would he infect along the way?”
'Working Mother' turns 30: Mag recognized growing earning power of moms
“The number of working moms has almost doubled, from 16 million in 1979 to 30 million today, and women make up nearly half the work force. Many are the primary breadwinners. They've made steady inroads into just about every profession, moving up the ladder, into executive suites and forming networks to bring other women along. Working moms used their clout to help enact family-friendly laws and corporate policies, from the Family and Medical Leave Act of 1993 and the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act of 2009 to paid parental leave and workplace flexibility. Working Mother began highlighting and encouraging these changes in 1986 with its annual Best Companies for Working Mothers edition.”
Career Women, Remade
“It wasn't too long ago that women began taking sledgehammers to the glass ceilings of corporate America. In the years that followed, women were allowed into the privileged society of male executives, and as they marched up the ladder and commanded high salaries, everyone cheered. Even so, some powerful women wondered what they had gotten into. ‘A lot of women found that the male model of success -- with its emphasis on full time and face time, extensive investment during the thirtysomething years, and money as the primary motivator -- didn't work for them,’ says Kathy Caprino, a work-life coach and author of ‘Breakdown, Breakthrough: The Professional Woman's Guide to Claiming a Life of Passion, Power, and Purpose.’”
Working moms' wish list: More flexibility would help make it all work
“Just one hour made the difference between Appleton mother Sadie Diedrick deciding whether to keep her job or quit. When new owners took over the retirement home where she worked, they would not allow Diedrick, a mother of three, to come in at 4 p.m. every day instead of 3 p.m. with the other nurses on her shift. The previous owners accommodated Diedrick because her husband's shift ended at 3:30 p.m. and the parents needed a few moments together to transfer care of their children. When her new employer wouldn't make an exception, she quit. Now she works part time from home as a nursing scheduler on a time frame that allows her to take care of her children and contribute to the household income.”
Moms today facing emotional, economic lifetsyle challenges
“While many are spending more quality time with their children because of a job loss, some stay-at-home moms have found themselves wading back into the work force, too. According to a survey by Adecco Group, a staffing agency, 13 percent of working moms are back on the job because of the financial strain brought on by the economic collapse. It seems the Great Recession has redrawn the battle lines in the “mommy wars,” which often pit working moms against stay-at-home mothers over who has it harder. Now, with job descriptions and identities more fluid than ever, mothers are getting a look at how the other half lives and gaining a new appreciation for it in the process. “It's giving moms a chance to walk in each other's shoes,” said Leslie Hovsepian, a psychologist in San Diego. She sees the competition among moms as a basic fact of human nature because people always look for ways to justify and rationalize their choices.”
Blogs
Mother's Pay
“Its approach applies the logic of replacement cost, described in my post last week: What would it cost to hire someone to do a mother’s job? The Salary.com analysts lay their reasoning out in nice detail, but their estimates seem too high, perhaps because they rely on responses to an online survey whose participants were not representative of average moms. Salary.com reports that, in the typical week, stay-at-home mothers spend 96.4 hours performing the 10 most popular “mom job functions” (laundry machine operator, van driver, janitor, housekeeper, computer operator, cook, day care center teacher, facilities manager, psychologist and chief executive officer). Using estimated wage rates for these functions, this adds up to an annual cash compensation of $122,611 for a stay-at-home mom (up 5 percent from last year).”
Juggling career and parenthood
“I often say there’s really no such thing as work-life balance; it’s more of a juggle and, from time to time, you have to forget about keeping all of those balls up in the air and just try to catch them as they fall. My post about daycare drama last week generated some really great advice from all of you. It also drew a bit of criticism from commenters who suggested that, maybe, our kids would have an easier time if they were home with their mothers instead of at care. That kind of thing is nothing new to parents who are trying to juggle career and parenthood, but it does ratchet up the stress level in what is -- especially in this economy -- an already stressful situation.”
What Would You Say To The First Lady?
“At a private meeting that I attended with her following her speech, Mrs. Obama heard more about “what works” from two companies and asked us why these initiatives aren’t more widespread. If family friendly programs and policies are so good for employers and employees, she asked, then why aren’t more companies providing them? According to my organization’s 2008 nationally representative study of the U.S. workforce, Mrs. Obama is right on target. For example, only 50% of employees strongly agree that they have the flexibility they need to successfully manage their work and family lives.”
Let's Honor Mothers Every Day
“Challenges facing women to balance work and family are exacerbated in a downturn, which calls for greater workplace flexibility. Simply put, the workplace should be as adaptable as working mothers have become. This is why I am working to pass the Working Families' Flexibility Act -- a bill I have sponsored with Sen. Edward Kennedy which would provide job protection for working parents who request flexible work schedules from their employers. Nearly 80 percent of workers say they would like to have more flexible work options and would use them if there were no negative consequences at work, according to the Families and Work Institute. However, close to 40 percent of workers surveyed believe they would be less likely to advance in their career is they asked for flexibility.”
Job downgrade = more job satisfaction for older workers, says AARP study
“Older workers often switch jobs and employers, and in the process have their pay sliced, their pensions and healthcare benefits thrown out and their managerial responsibilities given to someone else. But according to a new AARP study, "mature" employees are happier for it, due to a lower level of stress and a more flexible schedule in their new positions. Many are grateful to abandon the daily grind and use the slower-paced jobs to transition into retirement. Of the 1,705 workers surveyed over a 14-year period beginning in 1992, a whopping 91% said they enjoyed their replacement jobs, compared with the 79% who liked the original positions. The employees were 51 to 55 years old when the study began and 65 to 69 years old when it concluded.”
Global News
Why time is such a welcome gift
“The more she works, the less time there is to spend with her husband and kids, 12-year-old Fanny and 14-year-old Sam. For Fitterman, part of becoming a mother meant rethinking her work life. It's a choice she made as soon as she and her husband decided to start a family. She has no regrets. According to Statistics Canada, the typical mother these days is, like Fitterman, a working mother. A full 70 per cent of women whose youngest children are between three and five are employed, either full- or part-time. The numbers are similar whether the mother is partnered or single.”
BHP scheme a boost for parental leave
“THE case for paid parental leave in Tuesday's federal budget has received a strong endorsement, with BHP Billiton set to introduce a scheme that would provide 18 weeks' leave for about 40,000 employees in Australia and overseas. It is thought the scheme — which will apply from July to the primary carer and be at full pay — is the most generous of any large private-sector employer in Australia. The ACTU has welcomed the move. The Federal Government has refused to say when it will introduce a government-funded scheme but there are reports it may announce on Tuesday that it will stagger its introduction.”