Corporate Voices Releases Employer Guide to Federal Benefits for Workers

Amidst the current economic downturn, employees are feeling the pinch on their pocketbooks as many employers cut jobs, hours, and benefits in an effort to stay in business. In this grueling economic climate, a new toolkit released by Corporate Voices for Working Families is most welcome for those who are eligible for federal benefits. Corporate Voices has released its updated 2009 Employer Guide: Educate Your Employees About the Benefits They’ve Earned. The reference guide helps employers inform their employees about the Earned Income Tax Credit, Child Tax Credit, Medicaid and other federal benefits.

This is the seventh year that Corporate Voices has updated this guide and made it available to companies in an effort to help low-wage employees take advantage of a host of federal benefits.

“Employees earn these benefits but many do not know how to take advantage of them because of the complexity of the programs and paperwork involved,” said Donna Klein, Executive Chair and Founder of Corporate Voices for Working Families. “By helping employees claim tax credits and federal benefits, companies build trust by making employees aware of valuable resources.”

The employer guide includes information on the Earned Income Tax Credit, the Child Tax Credit, Medicaid/State Children’s Health Insurance Program, and Volunteer Income Tax Assistance Centers. It also includes tips on how employers can talk to employees about tax credits, and guidelines to help employees avoid predatory tax-preparation practices. All of this information is designed to provide employees with guidance on existing services to help them keep more of what they earn.

Corporate Voices also encourages companies and other organizations to re-brand the toolkit and distribute it to their employees or other stakeholders. The toolkit is available for download on the Corporate Voices website, and a limited number of the toolkits are also available by contacting Corporate Voices at: 202-467-8130.

By Yvonne Siu

State of the Union: Corporate Voices Urges Support for Working Families

Amidst the continuing economic downturn and increasing unease about the lingering high levels of national unemployment, President Obama is expected this evening to announce key investments for working families in his State of the Union Address.

The new policy initiatives he is expected to propose include doubling the child tax credit for middle class families, limiting student loan repayment rates to 10 percent of income above living expenses, creating required workplace IRAs, and expanding support for families balancing work with caring for elderly relatives.

Corporate Voices wholeheartedly supports initiatives to create lasting jobs, provide greater work-life balance and strengthen America’s economy for the long term. In fact, many key Corporate Voices’ initiatives echo the themes that are expected to be embraced by President Obama in his State of the Union Address.

Donna Klein, Executive Chair and Founder of Corporate Voices for Working Families, said: “All of us who are engaged in initiatives to improve the lives of working families and the prosperity of the United States economy are encouraged that President Obama is focusing the national agenda on measures to help workers and enable them to achieve a balance between work and family responsibilities.”

Klein was one of a select group of 130 national leaders from business, nonprofit organizations, and education who were invited by President Obama to share their ideas on job creation during the White House Forum on Jobs and Economic Growth in early December.

Corporate Voices will this week release its updated 2009 Employer Guide: Educate Your Employees About the Benefits They’ve Earned. The reference guide helps employers inform their employees about the Earned Income Tax Credit, Child Tax Credit, Medicaid, and other federal benefits to help workers keep more of what they earn.

Publications, research studies, and toolkits on a host of workforce readiness, flexibility, family economic stability, and work and family balance issues are available on the Corporate Voices web site at www.corporatevoices.org.

By Yvonne Siu

“Race to the Top” and the Need for Workforce Readiness

In a marked shift from the previous administration, President Obama is championing the new “Race to the Top” education initiative aimed at improving the educational quality and performance of America’s schools. The program will offer states $4.3 billion in education funding, however the grants will be contingent on states meeting certain conditions.

According to a recent report titled “No Handouts, States Compete for Education Aid” on NPR’s All Things Considered,

[States] must shut down failing schools and allow more privately run charter schools to open. They must develop tougher tests tied to higher academic standards. They have to collect better data to track student progress and make teacher training more rigorous. And finally, they must allow teachers to be evaluated based on their students’ performance and test scores.

Secretary of Education Arne Duncan is strongly committed to the educational reforms in the “Race to the Top” program as well, and thinks that even though some of the reforms are controversial, states will apply for funding, given the amount available for grants. So far, about 40 states are planning to apply.

What is noteworthy is that the new program will link teacher and principal evaluations to students’ academic performance.  This is something that teachers’ unions have opposed in the past , however the American Federation of Teachers says it now supports the change.

Pursuing educational reforms to strengthen academic standards and student preparedness for the workforce and life is a critical concern today. Studies have shown that new entrants into the workforce are ill-prepared in applying their knowledge and skills in the workplace.

Corporate Voices for Working Families is addressing this problem through its workforce readiness initiative. Although improving teacher performance is important, Corporate Voices treats workforce readiness as encompassing early childhood education, after school programming, older youth, alternative pathways for youth, and training and development for the workplace.

Corporate Voices is also addressing a key side of the equation: engaging not only teachers, but the business community in training and preparing young people for the workforce. As the future of America’s economic competitiveness will depend on workers well equipped to perform in a knowledge-based economy, businesses have a vested interest in helping our youth continue the American traditions of innovation and productivity.

–Yvonne Siu

Women’s Empowerment in the Workforce and the Need for Workplace Flexibility

In today’s labor market, we are not surprised to see the participation of women in every sector from the service industry to high-level management in corporate America. But looking over the past century, the empowerment of women in the workforce has marked a dramatic social change. It has occurred, remarkably, without upheaval and is generally well-accepted by men and women alike. Women now make up almost half of American workers (49.9 percent), however this trend has created new social pressures, and arguably the need for changes in corporate culture to engage this new type of workforce.

In a recent report titled “Female Power,” the Economist chronicles the rise of the economic empowerment of women, and also explains the social implications and problems that it has created.

From the article:

“…the biggest reason why women remain frustrated is more profound: many women are forced to choose between motherhood and careers. Childless women in corporate America earn almost as much as men. Mothers with partners earn less and single mothers much less…

…A survey for the Children’s Society found that 60 percent of parents agreed that ‘nowadays parents aren’t able to spend enough time with their children.’ In a similar survey in America 74 percent of parents said that they did not have enough time for their children.”

In comparison to much more accommodating European countries, the U.S. provides no statutory paid leave for mothers and only 12 weeks unpaid. Compared to OECD standards, America’s public spending on family support is low– it spends only 0.5 percent of GDP on public support for child care.

The trend of increasing numbers of women in the workforce will continue– according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, women make up two-thirds of employees in ten of the 15 job categories likely to grow fastest in the next few years. With women making up a significant portion of the labor force, policies that support flexibility in the workplace and that engage talent are increasingly relevant for the business community. Being able to effectively harness and manage this new type of workforce could have important implications for the competitiveness of the U.S. economy.

“Goldman Sachs calculates that, leaving all other things equal, increasing women’s participation in the labor market to male levels will boost GDP by 9 percent in America…”

Some in the corporate world are already doing much to address the need to keep their female talent, and help women juggle the dual responsibilities of work and family.

“Addleshaw Goddard, a law firm, has created the role of legal director as an alternative to partnerships for women who want to combine work and motherhood. Ernst & Young…has increased its efforts to maintain connections with women who take time off to have children and then ease them back into work…Almost half of Sun Microsystem’s employees work at home or from nearby satellite offices.”

Addressing the need for flexibility in the workplace is an issue that Corporate Voices for Working Families regards as a business imperative. Studies show that flexibility policies offer concrete benefits in terms of financial performance, and operational and business outcomes. Being able to telecommute or work flexible hours has been proven to increase job satisfaction, commitment, and engagement among workers, and it has also boosted innovation, quality, customer retention, and shareholder value. More and more, people are coming to understand that workplace flexibility policies are more than a benefit to workers– they are a new way the business community can get the most out of an increasingly changing labor market.

-Yvonne Siu

Crushing Unemployment Among American Youth– The Need for Workforce Readiness

As the U.S. continues to cope with the fallout from financial crisis and as unemployment hovers around 10 percent, many are starting the new year with one goal in mind: finding a job. Although some may have luck, others are finding that the job market is unforgivable. In fact, unemployment seems to be affecting certain segments of the population worse than others.

According to a recent All Things Considered report on National Public Radio, 52 percent of African-American males between the ages of 16 and 19 are unemployed. This is an alarming statistic, and one that highlights the crisis facing at-risk youth in America today.

From the report:

Academics believe fewer than 14 in 100 young black men actually have jobs. Washington, DC has the worst teen employment rate in the country, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

This problem has serious long-term effects, as Andrew Sum with the Center for Labor Market Studies says that young people need to work during their teen years:

“These people who work a lot when they’re teenagers not only benefit when they’re teenagers, but they also will work more and earn more when they’re 25 years old,” he says. “The more you work now, the more you work tomorrow.”

And working as a teen leads to higher high school graduation rates, steadier and higher-paying employment down the road, and lower rates of criminal activity.

The report lists discrimination, a lack of professional networks, and the fact that older workers laid off from higher-paying jobs are filling entry-level jobs as reasons why young black men are having difficulties in the labor market.

But what may be at the root of the problem is that young people in America simply lack the skills needed to enter the workforce. Corporate Voices for Working Families is addressing this problem in concert with other organizations though the Ready by 21 Partnership, which aims to improve the odds that young people will succeed throughout high school and be ready for college, work, and life. The Ready by 21 Partnership is a coalition of prominent organizations whose members reach more than 100 million youth across the country. Corporate Voices plans to engage business leaders to help them create partnerships within their local communities to ensure that youth are ready for work.

Ready by 21 is among other major new initiatives Corporate Voices is undertaking to address the urgent need to improve workforce readiness in the U.S.

-Yvonne Siu

Workforce Readiness: Costs of Education Gap

Kevin Huffman has a fascinating and insightful op-ed article in The Washington Post, “The keys to a successful education system.” He touches on issues ranging from the need in education to recruit, retain and reward top talent to the necessity of parents getting more involved in school and policy issues.

Another point that he makes — and this is linked to workforce readiness, an issue that Corporate Voices focuses on from the standpoint of research and public and corporate policy — is the cost of “our international achievement gap.” Here’s from Huffman’s post:

Last year, McKinsey & Co. monetized the cost of our international achievement gap. Our education system’s poor results cost the country $1.3 trillion to $2.3 trillion a year, it found — as much as the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and the stimulus package combined. America cannot afford this kind of failure. We must make this the decade of education reform.

Publications, research studies and toolkits on a host of workforce readiness, flexibility, family economic stability, and work and family balance issues are available on the Corporate Voices Web site at www.cvworkingfamilies.org

Job Creation and Young People: NYT Editorial

The New York Times has an important — and timely — editorial today, “Americans Without Work.” Here’s one part of the editorial:

The real challenge — for President Obama and for Congressional Democrats — is to not get bogged down in that debate but rather to make job creation the undisputed priority for 2010.

Right now, finding people work is a more urgent task than reducing the deficit. Indeed, deficits cannot be tamed without more jobs to generate more tax revenue. A government boost to job growth is also necessary to help replace the millions of jobs that have been lost in the recession.

And importantly, the editorial focuses on the unemployment crisis facing America’s young people:

The problem is especially alarming in low-income, minority communities where the jobless rate for high school students is hovering near 90 percent.

The part-time jobs that were once a rite of passage began to disappear rapidly at the start of this decade. According to an analysis released this week by Andrew Sum, director of Northeastern University’s Center for Labor Market Studies, employment rates among teenagers have dropped nearly four times faster than the rate among adults since 2000.

As a consequence, he says, men 65 and older — people old enough to be their grandfathers — are now more likely to find work than 16- to 19-year-olds.

According to the analysis, the joblessness rate for teenagers generally is the highest ever since the country began keeping statistics just after World War II. Things are especially bleak for low-income black students: only 4 in 100 found work this fall.

This is worrisome on several counts. First, young people who do not find work tend to become discouraged early on and stop trying. They fail to develop the work force skills that make them attractive to employers, which means that they are likely to remain unemployed or underemployed well into their adult years.

People who do not find work in their early years also have higher dropout rates and are more likely to commit crimes — meaning they are at higher risk of becoming permanent burdens to society.

Corporate Voices is very much engaged in looking at public and corporate policy issues involving workforce readiness and low-income and at-risk young people.

Publications, research studies and toolkits on a host of workforce readiness, flexibility, family economic stability, and work and family balance issues are available on the Corporate Voices Web site at www.cvworkingfamilies.org

Flexible Work Options and Employee Wellness

Add employee wellness to the list of benefits that employers can gain from supporting flexible work options: enhanced recruitment, retention, engagement, cost control, productivity and financial performance.

That’s the view of Ellen Galinsky, President of the Families and Work Institute and a member of the Corporate Voices Board of Trustees. Here’s from a post — “Healthier Employees and Cost Savings: Expanding our Definition of Wellness at Work” — on the Sloan Work and Family Research Network blog.

In her own recent blog, Donna Klein of Corporate Voices notes that “progressive personnel policies and a work culture supportive of occasional flexibility” offers companies “enhanced recruitment, retention, engagement, cost control, productivity and financial performance.”

Here’s another reason to support an effective and flexible work culture for all employees: It could actually help your employees stay healthy.

And Ellen’s post continues:

If we really want to make a difference in working families’ lives, our definition of wellness needs to expand. Employers are less aware that creating what we at Families and Work Institute call an “effective” workplace,” (based on six measurable criteria that include a climate of respect and trust, economic security, autonomy, job challenge, a supervisor who supports your work, and work-life fit) should be considered an integral part of promoting wellness.

Families and Work Institute (FWI) just released  The State of Health in the American Workforce study revealing that American employees are getting less healthy each year. Beyond their potentially terrible impact of employees, we know that health problems are very costly for employers and society at large. Our study finds that 38% of employees in workplaces ranked in the “high overall effectiveness” category report “excellent overall health.” By contrast, only 19% of employees in workplaces in the “low overall effectiveness” category report “excellent overall health.”

Change can be tough and sometimes, providing a gym membership can seem easier than improving the way people treat each other at work. But employer actions to improve the effectiveness and flexibility of their workplaces not only can improve employees physical and mental health, stress levels, sleep quality but employees’ engagement, turnover intent and job satisfaction as well. Examples include giving employees some say about how to do their jobs and providing flexible scheduling options, and helping supervisors support employees to succeed in their jobs. Providing economic security is more challenging, especially during period of business downturn. But ensuring that there is open and regular communication about the financial state of the organization can help employees weather economic storms. In bad economic times, organizations should think creatively about ways to ensure access to benefits and career development opportunities.

Research studies, toolkits and other information about workplace flexibility are available on the Corporate Voices Web site.

Corporate Voices: Joel Klein on Leadership

Here’s an interesting video interview between Jay Mathews of The Washington Post and Joel Klein, chancellor of the New York City public schools. Klein talks about education reform and the important role of leadership.

And a hat tip to America’s Promise Alliance for sharing this interview in its weekly news update.

Publications, research studies and toolkits on a host of workforce readiness, flexibility, family economic stability, and work and family balance issues are available on the Corporate Voices Web site at www.cvworkingfamilies.org

Flex Time: Making it a Win-Win

Interesting story and commentary in The New York Times by Sylvia Ann Hewlett about the value of flex time to employees and employers. Hewlett is an economist and the author of Top Talent: Keeping Performance Up When Business is Down.

Her article, “Making Flex Time a Win-Win,” looks at flexible work arrangements from the standpoint of both women and men. Here’s from the article:

From 2004 to 2009 there was a 28 percent increase in the number of professional women with nonworking husbands (unemployed or retired), according to a new survey done by the Center for Work-Life Policy, an organization I founded and where I lead a private-sector task force called Hidden Brain Drain.

What is more, the percentage of full-time working women who out-earn their husbands has reached 39 percent. A central problem, of course, is that as more wives and mothers step into the prime breadwinning role, they continue to shoulder a disproportionate load of domestic responsibility.

Some relief is on the way —for women and for men. If there’s a silver lining to the recession, it’s that smart companies are beginning to turn time into a tool to attract, retain and engage high-performing talent of both sexes.

Hewlett then focuses on an innovative program instituted by KPMG, a Corporate Voices partner company.

In January, the accounting giant KPMG, looking for a way to save payroll costs without losing valued employees, introduced an initiative called Flexible Futures. This new program offered the 11,000 professionals in KPMG’s British operations the following options: They could go to a four-day workweek and take a 20 percent pay cut; they could opt for a mini-sabbatical at 30 percent base pay; they could opt for both of the above; or they could stick with their current arrangement.

The program was hugely successful. Over 80 percent of KPMG’s professional employees (men and women) volunteered to take one of the flexible options. This allowed KPMG to achieve its goal of retaining jobs while cutting costs.

Because Flexible Futures positioned shorter workweeks and mini-sabbaticals as a strategic response to the downturn rather than a “benefit” for working mothers, it has gone some distance to legitimizing flex time. Taking this option has become an honored choice — a way to save jobs. As a result, overloaded men as well as overloaded women have felt free to vary their schedules.

Research studies, toolkits and other information about workplace flexibility are available on the Corporate Voices Web site.