May 22, 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
Alan Grayson to introduce Paid Vacation Act
“Rep. Alan Grayson was standing in the middle of Disney World when it hit him: What Americans really need is a week of paid vacation. So on Thursday, the Florida Democrat will introduce the Paid Vacation Act — legislation that would be the first to make paid vacation time a requirement under federal law. The bill would require companies with more than 100 employees to offer a week of paid vacation for both full-time and part-time employees after they’ve put in a year on the job. Three years after the effective date of the law, those same companies would be required to provide two weeks of paid vacation, and companies with 50 or more employees would have to provide one week. The idea: More vacation will stimulate the economy through fewer sick days, better productivity and happier employees.”
Rethinking the Tenure Clock
“For both mothers and fathers, but mostly for mothers, academe insists on an incredibly intense push for productivity during the "make or break," assistant-professor years — roughly ages 33 to 40, the same years during which women are likely to have children. That frightens some top scholars away from a tenure-track job and defeats others who attempt it. The prospects are even more grim for those who take time away from academe to raise their children and later try to compete for an entry-level position. The productive career of a faculty member spans three to four decades, but we currently require a rigid linear career march with no irregularities or time out.”
Extreme Child-Care Maneuvers
“In a shift that is speeding a change in marital roles, the complex dance of the dual-earner couple is escalating to new extremes. Forced by the recession to cut costs while snapping up every opportunity to work, husbands and wives are swapping roles and bending work schedules at levels never seen before. Layoff victims are squeezing in freelance work amid family duties. Couples are coordinating their calendars down to the minute.”
Senate Panel Moves To Counter Federal Workforce Strains
“A Senate committee moved Wednesday to address a looming shortfall in the federal workforce by making it easier for retirees to return to work part time and by prodding agencies to allow more telework. Sen. Susan Collins , R-Maine, sponsor of a measure encouraging part-time employment of federal retirees, said their skills are needed at a time when the government is facing a wave of retirements as the baby boom ages. [. . .] A second bill approved by the panel seeks to encourage more federal agencies to allow their employees to telecommute.”
DeLauro Says Paid Sick Days Bill Won't Disrupt PTO Plans
“During the recent swine flu outbreak, President Barack Obama told ill workers to stay home so that they wouldn’t infect their colleagues. Rep. Rosa DeLauro, D-Connecticut, found irony in the warnings. She says that tens of millions of Americans can’t take time off because they don’t have paid sick days. On Monday, May 18, she introduced the Healthy Families Act, a bill that would enable workers to accrue one hour of paid sick leave for every 30 hours they work up to a total of 56 hours, or seven days.”
Poll: Many employees feel compelled to put in overtime
“More than seven of 10 workers say they regularly work through lunch and beyond their scheduled work hours, including on weekends, and many do so out of self-imposed pressure to keep up with the workload. So concludes the first survey of its kind from the Society for Human Resource Management, the Alexandria, Va.-based organization with 250,000 members around the world. SHRM took the pulse of 605 full- and part-time employees around the country, surveying their perceptions regarding sick leave, flex-time work arrangements and after-hours work habits. Supervisors, managers and hourly workers were part of the pool.”
Family Balancing Act
“Many parents are finding that making ends meet is a family balancing act. It's the talk of the Welles Park playground. [. . .] Tracy Stronsky planned to take a longer maternity leave but a month after she had her daughter she went back to work. "Most of my friends have actually gone back to work part time or full time," said Stronsky. "It's a lot to balance," said Dr. Lisa Gordon. Northwestern University psychologist Dr. Lisa Gordon says some moms are worried about taking too much time off for maternity leave.”
Blogs
Bringing an Obama-like Attitude to the Mommy Wars
“Still, it's hard not be inspired by Obama's tenacious optimism that, by working together, we can make things better. When he says it, it doesn't even sound like a platitude but rather like a sensible idea. Optimism is in short supply in the articles and books I've read lately about women and work. We're familiar with the endless mutual bashing of the Mommy Wars: the grim statistics about how few women hold leadership positions in business or the professions, how feminism is its own worst enemy, and how the glass ceiling is as solid as ever. I'm happy to say that a new book with a more Obama-like spirit came out recently: Getting to 50/50: How Working Couples Can Have it All by Sharing it All (Bantam) by Sharon Meers and Joanna Strober.”
Grey's Anatomy's Dr. Bailey Pulls into the "Slower Lane," (and I missed Michelle Obama)
“One of the keys to actively managing your work+life fit is flexibly redefining success. Think of your work+life fit as a highway. Too many of us see only the fast lane or a stop at the side of the road. But the truth is there are three options—a fast lane, stop at the side of the road, and a “slower” lane. [. . .] The season finale of Grey’s Anatomy unexpectedly granted my wish for more examples of shifts into the slower lane. Chief Resident, Dr. Miranda Bailey made the painful move out of the fast lane by turning down a prestigious fellowship for the less demanding position of general surgeon. This well written and acted episode accurately depicted the conflicting considerations and emotions behind her decision.”
Towards a "New Normal" in the American Workplace - A Public Policy Platform on Flexible Work Arrangements
“On the heels of First Lady Michelle Obama’s challenge to find ways to encourage employers to provide more flexibility to employees, Workplace Flexibility 2010, a Georgetown Law-based think tank, has released a new report outlining a comprehensive set of policy solutions to expand Americans’ access to flexible work arrangements (FWAs) such as compressed workweeks, predictable schedules, and telework. The common-ground solutions described in the report can benefit both working families and businesses. The report draws on decades of research on changes in the American workforce – dual earner couples are now the norm; older workers need to work longer to save for retirement; men and women want to share caregiving responsibilities; many lower-wage workers work nonstandard schedules and multiple jobs to make ends meet; and more people with disabilities are working but may need a range of supports.”
QUALITY: Workplace Wellness Linked to Flexible Work Arrangements
“The event Supporting a Healthier American Workplace: Workplace Flexibility and Mental Health and Wellness explored how giving employees more control over when, where, and how long they work means they are better able to take care of themselves and their families. Less stress, more happiness. Over time, employees with flexible work arrangements are less likely to experience a decline in their physical or mental health. Though flexibility and wellness programs do have a positive impact on employees, indicators of individual health move pretty slowly—so we can't be sure that flexibility is definitely going to lower health care costs, especially when we're measuring in the short-term.”
Global News
Calgary teleworking initiative receives federal funding
“Myth: If I can't see my employees in the office, then they aren't really working. Truth: Data consistently proves that an employee who teleworks two days per week is 15 to 40 per cent more productive than their office counterparts. With that reality check, on Thursday, the federal government announced it was contributing up to $800,000 under Transport Canada's ecoMOBILITY program for a new telework initiative developed by Calgary Economic Development and the City of Calgary. WORKshift will develop a plan that supports telework programs throughout the Calgary region by raising public awareness of the benefits of teleworking and providing businesses with specific guidance and support in planning, designing and implementing telework programs.”
A new politics: Reform MP's hours
“One of the better parliamentary reforms of the past 10 years has been changing the hours so that they reflect a normal working week (even if there aren't very many of them in the year). That meant introducing something approaching a 9 to 5 regime at Westminster, at least for Tuesday to Thursday, rather than the traditional arrangement of the day around 18th century gentlemen's clubs and society hostesses' drawing rooms, slightly modified in the 20th century to allow lawyers to get in a day's work before turning up in the late afternoon. The reforms (take a bow, Harriet Harman) have removed an obvious hurdle to women and men with young families taking part in Westminster politics, either as MPs or as officials, or even journalists. Along with other reforms, of which easily the most important has been the dramatic – if still insufficient – increase in the number of women, this change has slowly softened the culture of the place.”