May 26, 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
Paid Vacation Act
Broadcast by CNN, a report on the effort of a Congressman from Florida “to make paid vacation the law.”
At Convcocation, Plouffe Urges Graduates to Strike Balance Between Work and Family
“Although he has an extraordinarily successful career, he said the ‘real score card is not the number of electoral votes I scored, but my relationships with my friends and family.’ Plouffe stressed the importance of striking the right balance between work and time with family and friends. When Plouffe managed the Harkin presidential campaign at the age of 24, he went a month without speaking to his parents. Over the last two years, he often only had two or three hours of free time per week, he said. [. . .] ‘I was a phantom, doing important and increasingly remote things that were interesting to read about, but [simultaneously] began to make me somewhat of a caricature. Over the last two years, as I lived out the dream of every professional in my field, I could only do so by becoming somewhat of a ghost of a father and a husband,’ Plouffe said.”
Liberated and Unhappy
“American women are wealthier, healthier and better educated than they were 30 years ago. They’re more likely to work outside the home, and more likely to earn salaries comparable to men’s when they do. They can leave abusive marriages and sue sexist employers. They enjoy unprecedented control over their own fertility. On some fronts — graduation rates, life expectancy and even job security — men look increasingly like the second sex. But all the achievements of the feminist era may have delivered women to greater unhappiness. [. . .] Today, that gender gap has reversed. Male happiness has inched up, and female happiness has dropped. In postfeminist America, men are happier than women.”
Early retirement claims increase dramatically
“Instead of seeing older workers staying on the job longer as the economy has worsened, the Social Security system is reporting a major surge in early retirement claims that could have implications for the financial security of millions of baby boomers. [. . .] The ramifications of the trend are profound for the new retirees, their families, the government and other social institutions that may be called upon to help support them. [. . .] Yet experience suggests that retired workers are unlikely to return to work in large numbers, particularly not to full-time jobs that would allow them to make up their earnings losses while they were out of the workforce, said Paul N. Van de Water, a former senior policy official at the Social Security Administration and now a senior fellow at the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, a Washington think tank.”
What I Did On My Summer Nocation
“The American vacation is an endangered species. People are getting away from work and home less and less. Responding to CareerBuilder's annual vacation survey, some 35 percent of employees say they haven't taken any time off in 2009 and don't plan to. (That's up from 20 percent in 2007.) More than 70 percent of those settling for nocations this year said it was because they can't afford to stop working or to go anywhere. The survey of more than 4,000 workers was conducted in February and March; results were published Monday. An Associated Press-GfK survey also released in May found pretty much the same thing. Fewer Americans are taking extended breaks this summer, and one-third of the respondents said financial anxieties have forced them to cancel at least one trip already this year.”
Vacations are the new work headache
“One sign of the tough economic times is that the very thought of taking a vacation has become stressful, according to a recent survey. Though most employees say they happily switch off work once they leave the office, both getting out the door and coming back take a toll, according to the Work Watch survey, by Atlanta-based Randstad, a human resources company. The biggest source of stress is the first day back, according to 77 percent of the 2065 full-time and part-time respondents, but even the last day before leaving can be traumatic, say 44 percent of people in the survey.”
Blogs
Accomodating Religious Observance on the Job
“Jugglers have long fought for job flexibility to handle family needs. Now, time off for religious observances is becoming a hot issue too. In the past few months alone, such disputes have surfaced from New York to Tennessee. In one case, a Nashville hospital settled federal discrimination charges over its refusal to let a Muslim medical technician take 20 days’ accumulated vacation time to visit Mecca; the hospital denied any wrongdoing. In another, a policeman in New York state was given Friday nights and Saturdays off to observe sabbath as a Seventh-day Adventist, just as a Jewish co-worker was allowed. Federal law prohibits employers from singling out workers for worse treatment because of their religion.”
What are your plans for summer 'fur-cation'?
“When gas prices traveled north of $3 a gallon last year, we heard a lot about people taking stay-cations in their backyards. This summer, we'll hear more about "fur-cations." Fur-cation? Fur- is short for furlough. Some are calling it a furlo-cation. Take your pick — whichever is easier to pronounce. Besides layoffs and pay cuts, the recession is prompting some employers and the public sector to use furloughs, shutdowns, unpaid time off and reduced hours to save money and jobs. Now there's a nine-letter word to describe all these, um, opportunities.”
Flexible Work Public Policy Platform
“On May 13, Workplace Flexibility 2010, an organization at Georgetown University, released its summary report: Public Policy Platform on Flexible Work Arrangements. It’s a set of policy solutions to expand Americans’ access to flexible work arrangements such as compressed workweeks, predictable schedules, and telecommuting. The report represents the end of a five-year review of research and listening to employer, employee, and consumer representatives on all sides of the issue, left and right, public and private sectors, management and workers.”
A Revolutionary Future, Ctd
“In 1980, futurist Alvin Toffler's book The Third Wave predicted a soon-to-be-realized work revolution, made possible by new technology, that largely eliminated offices and city traffic. He wasn't alone. Repeatedly, as the Internet has evolved and communication technologies have improved, the obituary of the traditional office has been written, and rewritten. And yet, anyone who's tried to navigate rush hour traffic in New York, Los Angeles, San Francisco .. or any other American city ... can attest to the fact that quite a few people, actually, are still traveling to and from offices at approximately the same time each day. Why is that? Surely, with email, audio and video conferencing, Blackberries, iPhones, and file sharing, we can communicate perfectly adequately with our co-workers, without having to be in the same physical place or space.”
Global News
Cut costs! Let employees on sick leave work from home
“Only five days after the birth of her daughter, French Justice Minister Rachida Dati was back at work. Her move sparked a national debate in France and many said her example could undermine hard-won and generous maternity rights. But it's an approach Frederic Lefebvre, the spokesman for France's ruling UMP party, would like to see more of. As the French parliament examines new work legislation, Lefebvre backed an amendment allowing employees on sick or maternity leave continue to work from home. "During sick leave you are stuck at home but have lost none of your intellectual capacities, nor your energy […]. Instead of taking a long time off work, you could continue to work from home," said Lefebvre.”
Employees praise advantages of working at home to family life
“WALES has the highest percentage of employees working from home, research published today has revealed. A study of more than 4,000 people provides a unique snapshot into the lives of British workers. It reflects a growing commitment to flexible shifts as nearly a third – 29% – of people working in Wales said that they operate from remote offices at home. In the rest of Britain, around 23% told researchers that they fulfilled their corporate responsibilities by working outside the conventional office block environment.”
Juggling act: supermums
“Just check out the online parenting forums. They are on fire with pleas from stressed-out mothers who desperately need advice and some sisterly back-up. The modern mum's self-confidence seems to be at an all-time low and insecurities abound in cyberspace. From women worried about being replaced while on maternity leave, to tired mums anxious at work because they're distracted about a sick child, to miserable mums who think they are failing their kids because they're too exhausted to read a bedtime story -- this is the fallout from the belief that women could have it all. Instead, they feel more pressure than an over-pumped tyre.”