Proof That Giving Your Employees More Freedom Makes Them More Productive
"Best Buy was one of the first Fortune 500s to create a flexible work-schedule program for its corporate employees. Tech companies have been doing this for a while, and for good reason: these programs work." (Business Insider, Inc.)
Flexible Workplace Aids Sleep and Increases Productivity
"The discovery is another blow to the old belief that productivity is tied to an individual being on-site for a strict 40 hours -- and, never mind if they are unhappy or have poor health habits." (Psych Central)
How Flexible Work Actually Works
"At MeetingMatrix International, a communications firm based in Portsmouth, N.H., employees have no defined work schedules, unlimited paid time off, and meetings are optional. How do they ever get any work done? That's actually the only thing that matters: results." (Cable News Network)
Workplace Flexibility in the United States; A Status Report (PDF)
31 pages; extensive charts. Workplace flexibility programs benefit employers of all sizes and industries, resulting in increased employee job satisfaction, lower turnover and lower insurance costs, according to the new report, 'Workplace Flexibility in the United States: A Status Report." (Families and Work Institute; Society for Human Resource Management)
2011 Best Places to Work in Insurance
"Business Insurance this year honored 50 companies . . . But what makes these companies attractive employers? Is it their benefits and compensation programs? Their attention to work/life balance? Or is it other, more unusual perks? . . . [This article contains] profiles of the honorees, which are organized by type of company and size . . . . [F]ind out what it is that sets the leading insurance industry workplaces apart." (Business Insurance)
[Guidance Overview] Philadelphia Ordinance to Require Some Employers to Provide Paid Sick Leave
"Certain Philadelphia employers will be required to provide full-time employees with paid sick leave beginning July 1, 2012 . . . [including] for-profit service contractors and subcontractors with annual gross receipts above $1 million on contracts with the City in excess of $10,000 over a 12-month period . . . ." (Jackson Lewis LLP)
California Appellate Court Distinguishes Sabbaticals from Vacations
"California employers do not have to treat sabbaticals as accrued vacation payable at termination if the leave program meets four requirements, a state appellate court has held." (Mercer Select)
More Professional Women Choosing Time Over Money, According to Survey
"Two of 3 of women reported they would prefer to have more free time than a bigger paycheck, and 2 of 5 said they would be willing to accept less money for more flexibility." (USA TODAY)
Companies Look for Free Employee Perks That Actually Help the Bottom Line
"The freebies that proliferated during flush times -- from tuition assistance to free snacks -- are steadily disappearing, while perks that don't cost anything, such as allowing employees to work from home, are becoming increasingly common." (The Wall Street Journal)
[Opinion] Taking Workplace Flexibility from Private to Public
"Workplace flexibility, while a little thing, can make a huge difference for working parents, by providing control over when, how and where work gets done. So why aren't the needs of working parents for flexibility becoming a big public issue and ultimately the normal way of doing business?" (TheHuffingtonPost.com, Inc.)
Flexibility in Workplace Still Matters to Workers
"More than three in five working adults (62 percent) said that flexibility is one of the most important factors they consider when looking for a new job or deciding on an employer . . . . Of the 1,071 working adults polled, 42 percent said that they were willing to give up some salary to achieve more flexibility at work." (The Atlanta Journal-Constitution)
Companies That Make Their Employees Happier with Great Benefits and Incentives
"The jobs site CareerBliss.com just announced the winners of this year's Leap Awards, which honor the companies that have made the biggest strides to improve employee happiness year-over-year." (msnbc.com)
Employees Would Take Pay Cut for Flexible Work Schedule, According to Survey
"According to a press release, more than three in five working adults responding to the survey (62%) agree flexibility is one of the most important factors they consider when looking for a new job or deciding what company to work for." (PLANSPONSOR.COM)
Flexible Schedule Could Keep Workers from Playing Hooky
"A new global survey commissioned by The Workforce Institute at Kronos Incorporated reveals employees in counties all over the world, have all, to varying degrees, called in sick to work when they were not actually sick." (PLANSPONSOR.COM)
Workers Want Additional Perks during Summer, According to Survey
"Specifically, the majority of respondents (60%) said they want flex time (e.g. Summer Fridays or ability to leave early on certain days) and 53% said they'd like extra vacation days this summer." (PLANSPONSOR.COM)
Four Steps to Workplace Flexibility and Smart Scheduling
"The common assumption is that workplace flexibility is impractical for hourly workers. Not so: On that Monday, models emerged to offer workplace flexibility in three contexts where it might seem impossible: health care, restaurants and small business." (TheHuffingtonPost.com, Inc)
Flexible Schedule Helps Keep New Moms in the Workplace
"'When confronted by one or more job demands, a flexible schedule provides working moms with alternatives for meeting those demands while caring for their newborns. When working moms are better able to control their work environment and adapt, work-related stress is less likely to become a family issue,'" (HealthDay News via U.S. News & World Report)
Telecommuting: Attract and Retain Employees, Save Money, and, Account for Any Hidden Costs
"'Think carefully about whether telecommuting actually fits with the strategy of your business and its operational needs,' advises Wayne F. Cascio, professor of management at the University of Colorado Denver. Without that strategic fit, 'It may cost you a lot more, in the long run, in terms of lost business opportunities.'" (SHRM)
Employers Reluctant to Grant Work Flexibility to Employees, and Employees Afraid to Take Advantage of It
"For the employers, the survey found that the reluctance is not happening at the top, but rather among the mid-level mangers who worry that if they give one worker flexibility, then everyone will want it, and if their employees are working remotely, they may not be actually working." (Employee Benefit News; free registration required)
Professionals Look for Companies Hiring with Part-Time Flexible Work Arrangements
"A common route back to work is through staffing agencies that specialize in flexible jobs." (The Wall Street Journal)
Employers See Benefits of Workplace Flexibility
"According to a 2010 report from the president's Council of Economic Advisers, the benefits of flexible workplace arrangements -- less absenteeism and turnover, and improved worker health and productivity -- can outweigh costs." (MarketWatch, Inc.)
Work/Life Balance Key for Top Employers
"In an era of layoffs and budget cutbacks, the best workplaces aren't necessarily the ones with the best pay and benefits. Instead, Central Indiana's top employers are the ones offering more creative perks -- such as flexible scheduling and extra vacation days -- that help employees achieve better work/life balance." (www.indystar.com)
Labor Department Stiffens Incentive Pay for Flex Workweek Employees
"The new regulations, which amend the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938, will likely lead employers using this method to eliminate all incentive rewards such as commissions, bonuses or prizes, a labor attorney notes." (Workplace Management: free registration required)
Improving Work-Life Fit in Hourly Jobs: An Underutilized Cost-Cutting Strategy (PDF)
"When today's jobs are designed for yesterday's workforce, the uncontrolled turnover and absenteeism that result are costs of poor schedule design." (The Center for WorkLife Law)
Flexibility Is Key for Keeping Good Employees
"[The original definition of flexibility, an accommodation for a working mom,] has changed. Today, flexibility is about the bottom line, a solution to a business challenge." (The McClatchy Company)
[Opinion] Paid Sick Days: Measuring the small costs for Connecticut businesses
"This paper provides concrete economic data (based on the U.S. Census Bureau's Economic Census) to help policymakers better understand the potential costs incurred through implementation of paid sick days legislation." (Economic Policy Institute)
The Right to a Flexible Workplace?
"A few companies have embraced a radical form of flexibility: the 'Results Only Work Environment'' posits that when and where people work is irrelevant, so long as the work gets done." (The Boston Globe)
Workplace Flexibility Programs Tend to Be Informal, Without Written Policies or Forms
"Nearly all employers offer some type of workplace-flexibility program, but few train employees on how to successfully utilize such initiatives or managers on how to successfully work with employees who have flexible schedules. Too often, workers fear asking for flexibility, experts say." (Human Resource Executive Online)
Top Companies Push Programs to Help Women in the Workplace
"Like many companies, PwC offers its employees job share options, sabbaticals (during which employees retain benefits) and flex-time schedules, which allow employees to scale back their hours by as much as 60 percent." (ABC News Internet Ventures)
Workplace Flexibility Gets a Little Blue Around the Collar
"'Low-wage workers face rigid work schedules that are difficult to change -- unpredictable schedules that require working particular dates or at particular times with little advance notice, and unstable schedules with hours that fluctuate from week to week or month to month.'" (Smiley Pete Publishing)
Two Different Realities About Workplace Flexibility
"Last week, Families and Work Institute released two reports for the Department of Labor's Women's Bureau and its cross-country National Dialogue on Workplace Flexibility. If ever day was really night and night was really day, it was in these two reports on different -- yet overlapping--segments of the U.S. economy." (TheHuffingtonPost.com, Inc.)
Less Than 6% of Federal Workers Telework, According to Report
"New government figures show that few federal workers took advantage of telework options in the year before President Obama signed a bill requiring agencies to develop work-at-home plans." (The Washington Post; free registration required)
Five Reasons to Embrace Telework Week and to Let Employees Work from Home
"Telework Week is a great idea if it helps kick start a telecommuting program in your office. Here are a few reasons to embrace telwork according to WorkShifting: The Bottom Line, a white paper from Citrix [located at http://www.workshifting.com/downloads/downloads/Workshifting%20Benefits-The%20Bottom%20Line.pdf] . . . ." (CBS Interactive Inc.)
Eight Workplace Perks for New Parents
"From on-site daycare to flexible work hours to reimbursement for infertility treatments, family-friendly benefits improve employees' quality of life, which can strengthen loyalty to their employer . . . ." (Chicago Tribune)
Work Flexibility vs. Stimulating Work
"How important is having job flexibility for family needs vs. having challenging, stimulating work? It is a kind of trade-off faced by countless jugglers . . . ." (The Wall Street Journal)
One Company Finds Permitting Employees to Modify Their Schedules Reduces Their Anxiety and Stress
"[Bon Secours Virginia Health System] is prepared to provide employees with flexible schedules to help meet their financial needs. A part-time worker might request full-time employment for a while or ask to increase part-time hours to qualify for benefits . . . ." (Workplace Management: free registration required)
Flexible Vacation Policies Here to Stay
"[A growing number of companies are] adopting so-called flexible vacation policies that shift control over deciding when to take time off to employees and in many cases eliminating an allotted number of vacation days entirely." (Cable News Network)
Moving Work Forward: A Partnership to Promote Flexible Work Arrangements
"By highlighting strategies that enable people to do their best work -- while building on FWI's When Work Works initiative, and expanding upon SHRM's We Know Next campaign -- the partnership will promote flexible work arrangements that fit the 21st century workforce and create a new competitive advantage." (Society for Human Resource Management and Families and Work Institute)
Employers Increase Flexible Workplace Options
"Employers that have taken steps recently to formalize flexibility programs promote the benefits as they try to stay competitive in a recovering economy. They contend that having options like telecommuting, flexible schedules, compressed workweeks and job sharing are crucial tools in attracting prospects, retaining talent and increasing productivity." (The Baltimore Sun)
Workplace Flexibility and the Bottom Line
Excerpt: "[T]o some people, the whole notion of workplace flexibility -- paid maternity leaves, more flexible schedules, telecommuting -- is nice-sounding mumbo-jumbo that might makes employees feel good, but doesn't translate into dollars and cents on the bottom line." (The New York Times; one-time registration required)
Flex Work Time Flourishes in Accounting Industry
Excerpt: "Some firms allow employees to take off the entire summer to devote to their children; some let employees work just three days a week during nonpeak months. The big accounting firms generally give 12 weeks of paid maternity leave, with fathers often receiving six weeks -- and that is on top of the 12 weeks of unpaid leave provided to parents under federal law." (The New York Times; one-time registration required)
Firms Raising The Stakes to Counter 'Ferris Bueller' Sick Days
Excerpt: "Kronos, a workforce productivity firm in Chelmsford, Mass., recently found that 57 percent of U.S. salaried employees take sick days when they're not really sick -- a nearly 20 percent increase from statistics gathered between 2006 and 2008." (WITN.com)
Obama Signs Bill for Increased Federal Employee Teleworking
Excerpt: "The Telework Enhancement Act requires agencies to determine within six months which employees are eligible to telework, notify them and set a policy for them to telework." (Gannett Government Media Corporation)
Work/Life Balance Is Drawing More Attention from White House and Other Policymakers
Excerpt: "At a Focus on Workplace Flexibility Conference, held at Georgetown Law School in Washington last week, officials from the White House, Pentagon, Department of Labor, Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, Internal Revenue Service, academia and corporate America all spoke in favor of the concept -- whether they called it work/life balance, work/life fit or work/life integration." (Human Resource Executive Online)
House Sends Federal Telework Bill to Obama
Excerpt: "Members voted 254-152 to pass the 2010 Telework Enhancement Act (H.R. 1722), which requires agencies to determine which employees are eligible to work outside the office, to establish policies allowing them to do so and to inform them of the option." (Government Executive)
With Little Room for Raises, Companies Can Offer Perks
Excerpt: "For employees at companies strapped for funds, experts say these workers can request rewards that won't necessarily show up on a paycheck." (QCOnline)
Workplace Flexibility in the 21st Century
DOL's Women's Bureau is holding a series of meetings titled: National Dialogue on Workplace Flexibility. The Dialogues will discuss how employers can use flexibility to empower their employees and their families. (The Huffington Post)
Want to Change the Corporate Culture? Work Less, Sleep More.
Excerpt: "Consultants at hiring firms say the benefits of shorter or flexible hours benefit employers and employees. After all, one has to wonder how many companies fail because of bad decision-making. And how many because of a lack of a good night's sleep." (Crain Communications, Inc.)
Perks/Alternative 'Rewards' Substitute for Fatter Paychecks
Excerpt: "Flextime -- allowing individuals to alter their working hours -- can be an attractive reward for hard-working employees. . . . Another option is getting employers to pay for courses, seminars and conferences, or membership to professional groups . . . ." (Columbia Daily Tribune)
Supplemental Pay in the Healthcare Industry: Overtime Pay, Bonuses, and Shift Differentials
Excerpt: "The use of supplemental pay in the healthcare industry differs from other service-providing industries primarily in that shift differentials play a greater role, while bonuses appear to play a lesser role. The relative importance of shift differentials in the healthcare industry is probably related to the 'round-the-clock' nature of healthcare services in general." (U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics)
Quantifying the Benefits Workshifting Has for Employers, Employees and the Community (PDF)
23 pages. Excerpt: "Workshifting, and in particular, home-based work, offers a relatively simple, high return-on-investment solution to some of the nation's most vexing problems . . . ." (Telework Research Network / Aerodite, Inc.)
Flexible Work Arrangements May Hinder the Climb Up the Corporate Ladder
Excerpt: "Corporate America has been marching toward nontraditional work arrangements for some time -- last year alone, 21% of companies introduced flextime. Improved (and cheaper) technology is one big driver, and the recession has proven to be another. Options such as remote work, part-time, and customized schedules are 'a very inexpensive way to reward someone,' . . . ." (CFO.com)
Finding Resilience: Avoiding Executive Burnout and Staying at the Top of Your Game
Excerpt: "One of the most cited work-life balance programs, telework, often is assumed to universally reduce stress. But William Bransford, general counsel of SEA, says proper teleworking requires thoughtful, thorough implementation by managers." (GovernmentExecutive.com)
The Legal Framework for States As Employers-of-Choice in Workplace Flexibility: A Case Study of Arizona and Michigan (PDF)
27 pages. Excerpt: "In conclusion, both Arizona and Michigan have the potential to bolster their status as states as employers-of-choice. Both states have achieved a flexible workplace with strong executive leadershipthroughout the state workforce's management levels, and the support and use of flexible work arrangements, time off, and career flexibility to address emerging problems and changing demographics." (Twiga Foundation)
Overextended Workers Find Relief in Workplace Flexibility, According to Survey
Excerpt: "The tendency to juggle many things in life: personal happiness and well being, family needs and our jobs, is a constant struggle for many workers [with almost two-thirds of survey respondents (63 percent) saying] that all were equally important in terms of priority." (Workplace Options)
The Relationship Between Public Law and Voluntary Action in Enhancing Work/Life Balance for Caregivers
Excerpt: "The Paper argues that the law should play a role in facilitating optimal, individualized accommodation of working caregivers. Drawing on existing and pending legislation, it argues for the creation of a statutory 'right to request' that would protect workers from retaliation for seeking accommodations and would require employers to consider such requests in good faith." (Social Science Research Network)
Workshifting Benefits: The Bottom Line (PDF)
23 pages. Excerpt: "The purpose of this paper is to quantify the benefits of workshifting -- specifically working from home -- has for employers, employees, and the community. Citrix Online coined the term 'workshifting'to describe the growing trend to working from anywhere other than a traditional office through the use of web-based technology. The older and more traditional terms for this are teleworking or even telecommuting." (Telework Research Network)
Federal Government's Office of Personnel Management's Workplace Flexibility Program Will Start in June
Excerpt: "Under the Results-Only Work Environment program, nearly 400 OPM employees from a range of job functions will be permitted to work wherever and whenever they choose as long as their work gets done. Supervisors will be expected to 'manage for results' and trust employees to complete their tasks." (GovernmentExecutive.com)
Bill to Expand Federal Workers' Telecommuting Options Falls Short in House
Excerpt: "Legislation that would give federal workers the option to work from home ran into a significant roadblock Thursday, failing to get the two-thirds majority in the House that would have expanded telework options across the government." (The Washington Post; free registration required)
What a Difference a Day Makes, or Does It? Work/Family Balance and the Four-Day Work Week
Excerpt: "This Article considers the growing reliance that four-day work week advocates have placed on work/family claims. It begins by analyzing whether a compressed work schedule may alleviate work/family conflicts, and more importantly, for whom such benefits are most likely to accrue. While studies consistently find that many workers experience lower levels of work/family conflict when working a compressed schedule, the research also suggests that workers with the most acute work/family conflicts may be the least likely either to obtain or to benefit from a four-day work week design." (Social Science Research Network)
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