Life Meets Work Blog

Knowledge@Wharton posted a comprehensive piece on layoff alternatives.   The author discussed the impact of layoffs and the driving forces behind them.  While larger companies often bow to the pressure of stakeholders, smaller firms have more flexibility and can do more shifting, saving money and talent.

Despite the opinion of one Wharton professor cited in the piece–”If you have a choice between a 10% wage cut and laying off 10% of the work force, why on earth would you choose the latter?”—the author recognizes there are no easy decisions when cost cutting is required:

“In the end, companies need to balance what’s best for their employees while making sure the company remains viable in tough times.”

Here’s how some companies featured in the story are (or have in the past) making ends meet:

• City of Atlanta, 2008 – 10% cut in hours for city employees
• People Link, 2008 – employees decided to voluntarily cut hours
• Megavolt, 2008 – temporarily move employees to other business units; 10 hour reduction/week
• Cisco Systems, 2001 — allowed employees to take sabbaticals at 1/3 their salary.
• Voluntary pay cuts in exchange for deferred compensation (vacation, stock)
• Voluntary layoffs
• Voluntary retirements

And here’s a snapshot of the costs of a layoff:

• Morale issues for all staff
• Unemployment insurance premiums
• Severance packages
• Outplacement services
• Risk of litigation
• Hiring / training costs to ramp back up

More on staffing issues in a tough economy at the Life Meets Work main site.

Posted by Jaime

Voters in Milwaukee could have their wishes overturned, thanks to efforts from their area chamber of commerce.

On Nov. 4, residents voted to pass an ordinance requiring employers to provide paid sick leave to their employees.  The referendum won with 68 percent of the vote, and the ordinance is slated to become effective sometime in February 2009.

It calls for all private employers in the city to provide paid sick days for full-time, part-time and temporary employees. Workers will earn a minimum of one hour of paid sick time for every 30 hours worked, equal to about eight paid sick days for fulltime employees.  Employers with 10 or fewer workers would be required to provide five paid sick days.

By law, the mayor and city council cannot amend or repeal the ordinance for a two-year period. However, on Nov. 5 , the Milwaukee Metropolitan Association of Commerce (MMAC) filed a notice of intent to challenge the ordinance in court.  On Nov. 17 its board voted unanimously to proceed with the legal challenge.

The MMAC will seek an injunction to block implementation of the ordinance during the court challenge.

Similar ordinances, in place in San Francisco and Washington, D.C. are also being challenged.

Need help convincing your boss to let you go part-time, job share or work from home?  Present scholarly research to help make your case.

Like this study, highlighted in the November issue of Working Mother magazine:

According to research from Wake Forest University School of Medicine, employees who had more flexibility at the office called in sick less often and felt more committed to their jobs.

The study was based on health survey information completed by 3,193 employees of a large multinational pharmaceutical company.  Results were reported in the Psychologist-Manager Journal.

The authors suggested several ways to create a culture of flexibility:

• Offer a variety of alternative work arrangements. The study’s results suggest that part-time, remote and flextime options may be especially useful in creating a culture of flexibility.

• Train managers and supervisors to be supportive of workers’ lives outside the office.

Wake Forest isn’t the only one to link flexibility and employee health.  The University of Minnesota and Penn State found related connections—specifically reduced stress and an increase in healthy behaviors such as eating well and exercising.

Posted by Jaime

Is discrimination growing or just the number of women with the courage to step up and file a complaint?

The EEOC received 5,587 complaints of pregnancy-related discrimination in 2007—a 65% increase from 2002.

A study shows the percentage of complaints coming from black and Hispanic women has increased dramatically, but that no one area of the country is any more culpable than another.

We know, of course, that only complaints are measurable.  Plenty of discrimination goes unreported and plenty goes undetected.

And it’s not just pregnant women who are affected.  Even the could-be-expecting-someday women are at risk.

About 75 percent of working women will become pregnant during their careers.   That scares a lot of employers, and some are still reluctant to hire women of child bearing age.

It shocked me the first time someone told me she’d pretty much be expected to quit if she got pregnant—that’s how hostile her work environment was.  But the more I work with Life Meets Work the more stories I hear.  Sadly, the shock is wearing off.

Here’s one women’s story:

“My company is actually scaling back on the availability of part time positions.  At the time that I was hired, about 90% of the buyers were women between the ages of 25 and 45….and since then about half of them have become pregnant or had babies.

The leadership is freaking out and trying to hire more men because they’re afraid of losing their workforce.  Anyway it’s scary for people like me, who want the option of part time (or more flex time) in the future, to see them back-stepping on what’s been previously been available.”

Admittedly, it certainly is a business problem to have too many new parents out on leave at any one time.  But hiring less women is a short-sighted “solution.”

According to one study, 81.5% of women who worked while pregnant with their first child returned to work within a year of giving birth.   Nearly 82% went back to work!  Their absence is a temporary blip, a minor hurdle that can be overcome with cross-training and/or temporary help.

As Liz Ryan says, babies are not going to stop coming.  Keeping women off the team eliminates half the available talent pool.  It’s like saying, “I don’t want the very best for my team.  I only want people who won’t cause a disruption.”

It’s an 8 to 5 day here, 250+ days a year.  Don’t disrupt the schedule.  Just don’t disrupt the schedule.

Posted by Jaime

It’s Veteran’s Day and all of us at Life Meets Work would like to say thank you to the current and former members of our military who sacrificed to serve our country.

Transitioning service members and disabled veterans may face daily difficulties in the workplace.  A few work-life accommodations can make the transition easier and accommodate any disabilities earned in the line of duty.

Recently Returned
These heroes have just spent considerable time away from their families.  A workplace that recognizes the importance of family time will help these individuals reconnect with their loved ones and strengthen family bonds.

Injury and Stress
Physical injuries may place obvious limitations on a veteran’s ability to work long hours or perform certain job functions.  Beyond these more obvious disabilities can be invisible—but significant—hurdles stemming from post-traumatic stress disorders (PTSD).

The America’s Heroes at Work site has lots of suggestions for accommodating employees with PTSD.

Here are a few tips:

• Concentration:  Allow veterans to work at home part-time in order to have blocks of uninterrupted time.
• Social integration:  see above
• Stress and panic:  Allow frequent breaks.  Consider job sharing arrangements to ensure coverage.
• Frequent medical appointments:  Allow veterans to use sick leave time for doctors appointments.  Create a sick leave bank so employees can donate unused sick leave time to others who need it.
• Sleep disturbances:  Work around flexible start and end times to provide extra leeway in the mornings.

Not every former service member struggles with PTSD or needs accommodations.  For those that do, a flexible workplace is vital to recovery and long-term success.

What can you do for your country?  Go flex!

Posted by Jaime.

We just finished our first national study examining Americans’ attitudes on flexible work on the role of government in work/life issues. Here’s one key finding: Both employers (63%) and workers (78%) support the Working Families Flexibility Act.

The act (S. 2419 has been referred to the Senate Committee of Health, Education, Labor and Pensions) would give every worker the right to request job flexibility and would require employers to respond to the request.

This kind of legislation is already in place in Italy, Spain, Germany, and the U.K. Lessons learned: It didn’t create a new protected class of citizens and it didn’t open the floodgates with requests for flexible work. It simply encouraged more companies to develop win-win scenarios for themselves and their employees.

In this day and age, it often doesn’t matter when or where we work. It’s productivity and results that matter. Best Buy is reaping rewards with its results-only workplaces, and companies like Deloitte are saving millions in turnover costs.

Read the bill for yourself and tell us what you think.

We’ll review more findings and discuss the implications at our free webinar at 1:00 CST on Tuesday, October 28.

Posted by Jaime.

Milwaukee, Wisconsin could be the third city in the nation to require its businesses to provide paid sick leave. San Francisco led the way in February ‘07, followed by the Washington D.C. in March ‘08. Milwaukee residents will vote on the issue November 4.

According to the referendum’s leading advocate, more than 77,000 workers would get paid sick leave as a new benefit.

If passed, the new ordinance would purportedly allow employees to use their sick days for themselves or a close family member and would cover illness as well as preventive care.

Debate wages on both sides, of course. Opponents say it would put undue burden on small businesses, force large businesses to increase benefits in branches outside Milwaukee, and discourage new business growth.

Advocates say it would level the playing field for businesses that already offer the benefit and that paid sick leave boosts the bottom line by fostering healthier workers.

Opponents argue demand should be driven by the marketplace and that such legislation belongs in the hands of state and national leadership, not local municipalities.

Should Government Get Involved?

Find out what Americans think of government involvement in work/life benefits like these by attending the Life Meets Work free webinar on October 28. We’ll reveal the results of a nationwide survey examining employer and employee attitudes toward flexible work and the role of government in work/life benefits.

Posted by Jaime.

Life Meets Work and Ask Liz Ryan have launched a survey to gauge opinions about the work/life issues affecting the everyday lives of American families.

Launched during National Work and Family Month (October), the survey is designed to capture the opinions of both American workers and employers regarding work/life challenges, flexible work programs, and the role of government in work/life policies.

The results of the survey will be revealed in a free webinar on October 28, 2008.

Posted by Jaime

No matter what you call them, they’re IN. Think Starbucks, think your local bookstore. Here’s the idea: human beings have a need for public spaces where they can go, hang out, meet with people and take refuge from the daily stressors of life.

It’s an age-old concept, but the idea of third places is taking on new meaning in an era of freelancers, independent contractors and teleworkers.

Consider Jelly . This is an informal group of workers that get together biweekly in someone’s living room to share ideas, work from their laptops and regain the community benefits of office life.

Then, there’s Paragraph and The Village Quill, more formal third places dedicated to providing a quiet work environment for writers in NYC. Equipped with cubicles, a kitchen, comfortable furniture and even a library, they provide an oasis from city life and a community of like-minded professionals.

Another being space called TwoRooms (also in NYC), took the concept further by adding childcare. Telecommuters, freelancers, etc. would drop-off their kids and work in the adjoining space. TwoRooms didn’t make it, but it won’t be long before someone comes up with a successful business model and makes this work. Office space provider Regus meets Kindercare, for example.

And, speaking of Regus…in April, the company announced the opening of their new business lounge concept in Silicon Valley. It offers private workspaces, open lounge areas, meeting rooms, videoconferencing services and a business library. And, you can buy a day pass instead of signing up for a monthly or annual membership.

So where does all of this leave us? The human connection is still important in our work. No matter how technological we become and no matter how much flexibility we have as workers, there’s still a need for us to get out of the house and be together.

posted by Kyra

Here’s the hypothesis: Telecommuting = lower energy use = lower carbon footprint. True or False?

According to Sun Microsystems, an unequivocal TRUE. According to a story on telework savings published in Network World, Sun Microsystems set out to calculate whether its telecommuting program was really saving energy or just deferring energy costs to their employees.

Using kilowatt meters, Sun discovered that home office equipment used half the energy than equipment at the corporate office, from approximately 64 watts per hour at home to 130 watts per hour at a Sun office.

Sun also calculated that an employee’s commute accounted for 98% of his/her work-related carbon footprint.

Employees in the study saved more $1,700 per year in gasoline and vehicle wear and tear by working at home 2.5 days a week. That means any additional electricity costs an employee takes on by working at home, pale in comparison to the financial return of telecommuting just a few days each week.

For more on the benefits of Sun’s work-at-home programs, (like how telecommuters are happier with their compensation and rate their managers higher) visit the Sun Open Work pages.

Posted by Jaime