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

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.

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

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

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.

In fact, according to the Kauffman Foundation, Americans aged 55 to 64 form small businesses at the highest rate of any age group—28% higher than the adult average.

The SBA has recognized this trend and started a website just for 50+ entrepreneurs.

Here are some questions that would-be entrepreneurs should ask themselves:

1. How do you define business ownership?
2. What is your tolerance and capacity for risk?
3. What do you want out of your business in return?

Your answers will help determine whether a solo venture, start up, franchise, or a business acquisition is right for you.

Posted by Jaime.

The citizens of Milwaukee, Wisconsin voted yesterday to become the third city in the nation to require its employers to provide paid sick leave for all employees.

Tim Sheehy, president of the Metropolitan Milwaukee Association of Commerce, said paid sick leave was an issue that belonged at the national level.

That just might happen.  In his campaign platforms, Barack Obama advocated seven paid sick days for all employees—days you could use if you got sick, or if a child or parent needed your care.

One of my neighbors is losing a renter this month.  Her tenant is moving out to go live with her daughter who has oft-ill child and is in danger of losing her job.  This grandmother still works fulltime herself—a nighttime cleaning job—and will now be commuting over 30 miles to get to work each evening.

These women aren’t asking for a handout.  They’re sacrificing and working hard to keep their jobs and make ends meet.  Seven paid sick days wouldn’t be enough to resolve their particular challenge…but it sure would provide a little relief.

Posted by Jaime

To date, much discussion has focused on the candidates’ personal work/life situations—Palin bringing her baby to work, Obama keeping in touch with his girls via webcam, Biden raising two young sons as a single working dad.

But despite growing market focus on work/life concerns, the public debates and ad campaigns haven’t been focusing on the issues from a policy perspective.  That’s why the Families and Work Institute organized conference calls to get at the issue.  They spoke with top policy advisors from the Obama and McCain campaigns on September 16th and September 24th, respectively.

Conference transcripts are available.  Here’s an overview of the candidates’ plans regarding key work/life issues—as reflected during the calls:

Obama

• Flexible Work: Create a program to educate businesses on the advantages of flexible work.  Increase federal incentives for telecommuting.  Make the federal government a model employer by adopting flexible work schedules.  Obama is also a co-sponsor of the Working Families Flexibility Act, allowing employees to request flexible work schedules and receive fair consideration.
• Family and Medical Leave Act: Expand the act from businesses with 50 or more employees to 25 or more.  Also expand the act to include elder care needs, up to 24 hours for children’s academic activities, and domestic violence issues. Provide incentives for states to adopt paid leave system—such as California’s Paid Family Leave Insurance Program.
• Sick Leave: Require employers to provide workers seven days of paid sick leave per year that could be use for themselves or for the care of a close family member.

Obama’s representative also addressed issues such as health care coverage, early education, childcare tax credits, and fair pay. More from the Obama/Biden issues pages.

McCain

• Flexible Work: Create a Commission on Workplace Flexibility and Choice to make recommendations to him as President on how to modernize labor laws, retirement planning, and health care portability, and promoting telework.
• Family and Medical Leave: Does not support expanding the program or providing paid leave. Favors relying on market demand for such programs. 
• Sick Leave: Does not support mandating paid sick leave—again in favor of market demand.

McCain’s representatives also discussed issues such as trading overtime pay for compensation time, health care coverage and access, energy policy, early education, and elder care.  More from the McCain/Palin issues pages.

Posted by Jaime.

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.