September 25, 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
In Virginia Governor Race, 'Mom' Is the Word
“At a recent College Republicans' rally, Virginia's GOP gubernatorial nominee, Bob McDonnell, reached out to the women whom many of the students in his audience probably don't call enough -- their mothers. The former state attorney general promised that, if elected, he will create a ‘working-mom government simplicity task force... so all the smart women in Virginia can help tell me how to run Virginia.’ McDonnell first mentioned the mom panel at his campaign kickoff in March, but the idea went virtually unnoticed. These days, though, nearly everything he says about women, especially working women, makes headlines. He goes out of his way to butter them up. He credits his wife, Maureen, with dreaming up the task force and often calls her a ‘working mother.’”
Agency Chief Makes the Case for Teleworking
“Office of Personnel Management Director John Berry sees great advantages to having federal workers stay home. That wouldn't mean taking the day off, however. Berry is an advocate of teleworking and is asking federal managers and employees to help sell the idea to skeptical managers and lawmakers. Berry was making his pitch Thursday, the same day that Washington area commuters experienced 20-mile backups on Northern Virginia highways and road closures in downtown Washington because of a suspicious package in the District. The director considers teleworking as one of several alternative work scenarios he hopes the entire government can continue to adopt.”
The Long Slog: Out of Work, Out of Hope
“Nearly 15 million Americans are jobless, and the number is widely expected to remain high even as the economy slowly begins to recover. Part of the problem many of the unemployed face: the very fact that they have been out of work a long time. About five million of the jobless are what economists class as "long-term unemployed," people who have been out of work for 27 weeks or more. As challenging as it is for anyone to find a good job in this economy, it can be even harder for people out of work a long time. [. . .] A growing number of long-out-of-work adults facing these odds appear to be giving up. The labor-force participation rate -- the proportion of working-age people who either have jobs or are actively looking for one -- was 65.5% in August. That was the lowest in 22 years, according to the Labor Department.”
Great Recession transforms workplace, work force
“Going to work may never be the same again. The Great Recession has reshaped the American workplace and work force in ways that will last years, if not longer. The work force is graying as college graduates can't find jobs, young workers get laid off and older workers delay retirement. People in white-collar jobs are feeling increasingly vulnerable to economic downturns, an insecurity that blue-collar workers have known for years. Perhaps the most enduring change is the permanent loss of millions of jobs across the manufacturing, services and retail sectors.”
Recession Fallout: Fewer Women Having Kids
“For these economically vulnerable women, the cost of having a baby would further shake their already precarious financial footing. Three-quarters of them (77%) agreed with the statement "With the economy the way it is, I can't afford to have a baby right now." And while the cost of raising a child may already be prohibitive for many, others fear the consequences of pregnancy in an unstable job market. Close to half of the women who are currently employed said they worried about taking time off from work for medical appointments, which increase in frequency throughout pregnancy.”
Corporate sick-leave policies need to change in light of a pending H1N1 pandemic, CDC official says
“As the second wave of H1N1 flu threatens more children and working-age adults, businesses will play a key role in either slowing or hastening the virus, health care experts said Tuesday. Corporate policies need to change during the H1N1 pandemic. Policies should encourage workers to stay home when they or their children are infected, said Lisa Koonin, a senior adviser to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.”
Recession pulls U.S. senior citizens back to work: survey
“The worst U.S. economic recession in 70 years is forcing senior citizens out of retirement, leaving them fighting for jobs in a weak labor market or risk homelessness, according to a private study. The study by Experience Works, released on Tuesday, showed 46 percent of the 2,000 low income people over 55 years who participated needed to find work to keep their homes. Nearly half of them had been searching for work for more than a year. Experience Works is the nation's largest nonprofit provider of community service, training and employment opportunities for older workers. The study was conducted in the past two months and covered 30 states and Puerto Rico.”
Flu Outbreak Could Give Momentum to Paid-Sick-Days Bill
“An outline posted at www.flu.gov recommends that employers ‘establish policies for employee compensation and sick-leave absences unique to a pandemic.’ Preparations for an outbreak of the H1N1 flu virus this fall could give momentum to legislation that would require employers to provide paid sick days. Even with the government urging companies to keep sick workers at home, the measure faces significant legislative obstacles. But advocates are using the flu scare to promote the bill. Titled the Healthy Families Act, it 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. Providing days off is exactly what the government is asking companies to do if their employees catch the flu. An outline posted at www.flu.gov recommends that employers “establish policies for employee compensation and sick-leave absences unique to a pandemic.’”
Blogs
"100 Best Companies" for how long?
“I’ve always held firm to the belief that flexible policies are good for the bottom-line because they increase employee retention, productivity, and morale. I’ve seen several studies and plenty of anecdotal evidence to that effect. But if companies are ditching their flexibile work/life policies due to the recession, it does make you wonder. Are companies just being short-sighted—trying to save a few bucks now, but hurting themselves in the long-run? Or does a cost-benefit analysis render flexible policies unwise for companies? The current state of work/life policies in the US is so hodgepodge that the answer seems nearly impossible to quantify.”
Family dinners work some kind of magic
“Teenagers who have frequent family dinners are much less likely to drink and use drugs, according to a report released today. It doesn't seem to matter what food is served, the authors point out. The value appears to be in the social interaction between family members and the attention that parents give their children during a meal. The report, titled ‘The Importance of Family Dinners V,’ summarizes research that began more than a decade ago that has found that children who have meals with their parents are less likely to smoke, drink or use drugs. In this year's survey, researchers looked at the link between the frequency of family dinners and teens' substance abuse, teens' relationships with their parents and what effect distractions such as phones and other electronic devices have at the dinner table.”
Jobs Where Family Can't Come First
“I find myself torn. I am a deep believer that time for family makes any individual a better person and a better worker. And yet… Should the President of the United States put family before work? Is this one of those jobs where balance isn’t possible? How do you decide between two ‘must do’ moments? Should Bill Clinton have gone to Japan?”
Geography Plays a Part in Access to Work-Family Benefits
“The Carsey Institute at the University of New Hampshire recently published a new brief, 'Family-Friendly Policies for Rural Working Mothers.’ This brief, authored by Assistant Professor and Faculty Fellow Rebecca Glauber, analyzes the differences in access to family-friendly policies between rural and urban mothers. Glauber concludes that rural women are less likely than their urban counterparts to have access to family-friendly policies, including paid sick days, parental leave, flextime, and health insurance.”
Wellness is the Responsibility of Business as Well as Worker
“No matter what your position is on the health care debate, almost everyone seems to agree that the path we are on is an untenable route to increasing costs and diminishing returns. New data show American workers are getting less healthy each year, and this obviously will increase health care costs. The good news is that employers and employees can help contain these costs, in cost-effective and straightforward ways. ‘The State of Health in the American Workforce,’ a report that Kerstin Aumann and I co-authored and released today from the Families and Work Institute (FWI), finds that only 28% of employees today report that their overall health is "excellent," down from 34% just six years ago.”
Global News
Older workers wanting to remain in work can still be forced to retire, says High Court
“The default retirement age will remain at 65, the court ruled. But it is widely being seen as a stay of execution ahead of a review being undertaken by ministers next year. The judge is reporting as saying that he cannot see how 65 can remain as a default retirement age after the review. [. . .] The problem is particularly bad among women who are more likely to have less money during retirement because of taking career breaks which mean they miss out on building up the required contributions needed to benefit from the full state pension. Women are required to work for 39 years to qualify for a full state pension – currently at £95.25 a week - while men must work for 44 years to qualify. Both levels reduce to 30 years from April.”