Life Meets Work Blog

Any employer in the U.S. is eligible to apply for the 2009 Alfred P. Sloan Awards for Business Excellence in Workplace Flexibility. Nominations are due by early April for most communities; earlier for some.

This is a prestigious award requiring candidates go through a rigorous judging process, including employee surveys to cooberate employer reporting.

Winners are distinguished as the most flex-friendly companies in the nation.  The award brings with it official recognition which employers can leverage in employment branding and recruitment efforts.

Visit When Work Works for nomination information.

Posted by Jaime

The recently passed stimulus package includes incentives to states to expand unemployment coverage—to include people looking for part-time work, people who left jobs to care for a sick family member, and spouses of a transferred employee.

Advocates say the changes would benefit women who are more likely to be part-time workers due to caregiver responsibilities. They also argue that expansion is necessary to help those most in need—namely low income, part-time workers.

Meanwhile, critics point out that nearly half of the nation’s state unemployment coffers are already running dry.  They also argue that modifying unemployment rules would create a marked shift from unemployment insurance to an unemployment benefit that will do nothing to stimulate the economy or foster job growth.

Posted by Jaime.

Workplace flexibility initiatives could ease financial strain on American seniors. So says think-tank Demos and the Institute on Assets and Social Policy (IASP) at Brandeis University.

The partnership just released a report called Living Longer on Less. It received national media coverage, including CBS News.  Among the key findings:

• Seventy-eight percent of all senior households are financially vulnerable when it comes to their ability to meet essential expenses and cover projected costs over their lifetimes.
• Housing: 45% of senior households spend nearly a third of their income on housing. 31% either rent or have no home equity to draw on in tough times.
• Healthcare: 40% of senior households spend more than 15% of their income on healthcare.
• Budgets: 1 in 3 senior households has no money whatsoever left over after meeting essential expenses.

Personal Action
The study’s authors called for action from working Americans to better prepare themselves for retirement. Though they are financially vulnerable, today’s seniors represent a best-case scenario of having reached retirement under stronger Social Security and better employer-based benefits.

Government Action
The authors also called on policy makers in Congress and in the Obama administration to strengthen the security of today’s seniors and to ensure that younger generations will experience long-term economic stability through their senior years. Such actions include:

• Strengthening Social Security.
• Increasing Asset Building Opportunities.
• Supporting Flexibility to Allow Americans to Work Longer and More Productively
• Addressing The Medicare Crisis
• Instituting Long-Term Care Insurance

Employer Action
Workplace flexibility will not only aide senior workers, but it will help overcome the predicted labor shortage.  According to the Center on Aging and Work at Boston College between 2002 and 2012 there will be a 1% increase in the labor force participation of people aged 20 to 24, a 12% increase in those 25 to 34, 10% increase among those 35 to 44, and a 10% decrease in those 45 to 54.

Providing flexible hours can help seniors with reduced stamina as well as those who would simply prefer to ease into retirement by working fewer hours.

Posted by Jaime