New Sloan Work/Family Research Available

The Sloan Work and Family Research Network has released a new research mini-brief for state policy makers, entitled, Work-Family Information on Small Businesses, at: http://wfnetwork.bc.edu/pdfs/minib_smallbusiness.pdf.

 The purpose of this mini-brief is to help policy makers better understand the small business perspective on work-family legislative mandates.

 The mini-brief summarizes the small business viewpoint on work-family legislation, including paid sick days and paid family leave, underscoring both the concerns of and benefits to small businesses.  The mini-brief also provides statistics, suggested readings, and websites with more information.

Corporate Voices Successes With Economic Stimulus Bill

Corporate Voices was very successful in our efforts to ensure that disconnected youth were included in the economic stimulus bill that President Obama signed into law yesterday.

Here’s an overview from Donna Klein, the president and founder of Corporate Voices for Working Families.

 

 

I want to share with you the great news that Corporate Voices has been successful in our efforts to ensure that disconnected youth have been included in the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act.  The stimulus bill, which President Obama signed into law Tuesday, February 17, includes the Disconnected Youth Employer Tax Credit (DYETC), a new credit for companies that hire disconnected young adults. In addition, it provides approximately $1.2 billion in new money for youth training and employment programs.  We are pleased that the Congress included both programmatic support and tax incentives so that this vulnerable population will have the training, support and opportunity to contribute to the nation’s economic recovery.

Corporate Voices for Working Families played a key role in ensuring that disconnected youth were included in the economic stimulus package. We know this population is among the hardest hit in an economic downturn. Based on our alternative pathways model, we recognized that the stimulus created an opportunity to leverage increased support for youth training and employment programs that are important to help prepare youth for career path employment, and tax incentives for employers to hire disconnected young adults.  Consequently, we executed a two-prong strategy to work towards both spending and tax policy.

We did this work in concert with several of our partner companies including Marriott International, TJX, CVS Caremark, and KPMG, and in coalition with strategic outreach partners including the Community Service Society of New York, Jobs for the Future, Year-Up and STRIVE.  As the leading business voice working on this issue, Corporate Voices was able to engage our partner companies to lend their support to the coalition’s efforts to advocate for both spending policy that expands youth training and employment programs and for complementary tax policy that will incent business to provide employment for disconnected young adults. 

In the coming weeks, we will be reaching out to Treasury officials so that we can provide our corporate partners with specific information and guidelines about how they can quickly use this tax credit to create job and career opportunities for disconnected youth.  At the same time, we will be reaching out to officials at the Department of Labor to let them know that we believe the new youth money should be targeted to successful model alternative pathway programs such as Year-Up and STRIVE, which both have demonstrated records of success preparing disconnected youth to embark on career path employment.

We applaud the Congress and President Obama for including disconnected youth in the stimulus bill.  

We believe that the two policies taken together  encourage employers to be full partners in providing career opportunities for disconnected youth, enabling them to take their place as productive members of the American workforce and participants in our economic recovery.

 

 

Corporate Voices Workplace Lactation Toolkit — Cheers from Women’s eNews

The writers of Women’s e-News gave a “cheers” to our workplace lactation program and toolkit. Here’s part of the blog post:

A corporate-sponsored initiative to make it easier for women to breastfeed in the workplace was launched Feb. 9 and aims to persuade employers that allowing women to pump their breast milk at work is beneficial for their companies. Allowing the practices promotes better health as well as higher employee satisfaction, according to a press release from the coalition of groups behind it.

The toolkit is available on our Corporate Voices website.

Michelle Obama on Balancing Work and Family

Michelle Obama visited Howard University’s School of Business yesterday and talked to students and other members of the university community. Her message: “Working mothers must choose their own paths, balancing work and family.”

The Washington Post has the complete story — as well as a video of her remarks.

Corporate Voices Launches Workplace Lactation Program

Corporate Voices for Working Families believes that workplace lactation programs are good for working families — and good for businesses.

Consider these facts:

• Mothers with infants are one of the largest and fastest growing segments in the United States workforce — particularly in retail, service and other lower-wage industries.
• Fifty-six percent of mothers with infants under 1 year of age work. One-third of mothers return to work within 3 months of giving birth, two-thirds within 6 months.
• The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends that all mothers breastfeed their babies exclusively for six months, and keep nursing for 1 year or more.
• Seventy-five percent of mothers in the United States begin breastfeeding their babies at birth.
• Less than 20 percent still are exclusively breastfeeding 6 months later.
• One of the most common reasons mothers cite for early weaning is that they must return to work.

Corporate Voices for Working Families has launched an initiative to help solve this problem facing many working mothers, especially those in hourly and lower-wage positions – the need for breastfeeding support in the workplace. In partnership with Abbott Nutrition, Working Mother Media and a select group of companies, this new program aims to give employers the information and tools they need to reach hourly and lower-wage workers and help establish workplace lactation programs. 

A key component of the initiative – Workplace Lactation Programs: Good for Working Families. Good for Business. ^TM – is a workplace lactation toolkit that provides instructions, tips and template materials. Important elements of the program include recommendations for employers on how to support employees with breastfed babies, guides for working mothers who breastfeed, and sample promotional materials to alert employees to the resources provided by the program.

Details on the Toolkit to Support Breastfeeding in the Workplace

 Workplace Lactation Programs: Good for Working Families. Good for Business. ^TM, available on the Corporate Voices for Working Families website at www.cvworkingfamilies.org, is designed to help front-line managers implement lactation programs and educate hourly and lower-wage employees on how they can make a choice in infant nutrition. Material contained in the toolkit is available in both English and Spanish.  The workplace lactation program will be distributed throughout the business community and to healthcare organizations, community groups and government agencies.

 The Workplace Lactation toolkit was developed in consultation with a select group of member companies and healthcare professionals, including:  Ceridian; CVS Caremark; IBM Corporation; ICF International, Inc.; Knowledge Learning Corporation; LifeCare; Marriott International, Inc.; Metropolitan Life Insurance Company; PNC Financial Services Group, Inc.; and The TJX Companies, Inc.

Please download a copy of the toolkit — and share it with others, including employers.

WSJ: Women Having Babies At Earlier Age

Interesting story by Sue Shellenbarger in her Wall Street Journal online Work & Family column titled “No Waiting: Younger Women Are Saying Yes to Motherhood.”

The column adds perspective to a guest commentary by Ellen Galinsky that we posted on this blog, “Candace Parker and Work Life Balance.”

Shellenbarger writes:

For nearly 40 years, women have been delaying childbirth longer and longer, partly to launch careers. Now, this trend may be ending.

For the first time since government records have been kept, the average age at which women have their first babies posted a decline — according to newly released data from the National Center for Health Statistics. Mothers’ mean age at their first childbirth fell to 25.0 years in 2006, the most recent figures available, from 25.2 in 2005. Women ages 20 to 24 led the shift, with a 5% increase in the rate of first births.

A one-year reversal doesn’t make a trend, of course. But the study lends weight to anecdotal evidence that young women are tuning in more closely to their biological clocks. “It’s the first time it’s ever gone down, and certainly that’s noteworthy,” says Brady Hamilton, co-author of the study.

The story — whether speaking to a trend or not — certainly puts another focus on the balance between work and life from both a business and public policy perspective.

EITC: An Overview

Corporate Voices for Working Families released our 2008 EITC Toolkit yesterday. You can download a copy at the publications and toolkits section of our Web site. The EITC Toolkit is designed to help employers make sure that employees take advantage of all of the tax and other benefits that they have earned.

Here’s a good explanation of the Earned Income Tax Credit — from the Battle Creek Enquirer online. Here’s from the article:

The federal EITC was developed in the 1970s to help offset the burden of Social Security taxes as well as provide an incentive to work. This year, income guidelines to receive the EITC have increased, ranging from a single person with no children and an income of less than $12,800 up to a married couple filing jointly with more than one child and earning up to $41,646.

The maximum amount of EITC you can receive is $4,800 – which can go a long way toward buying needed items, paying bills or reducing debt.

The problem is, thousands of people who qualify don’t claim the credit. According to the Michigan Association of United Ways, last year an estimated $150 million in EITC funds went unclaimed in the state. Not only can that money help individuals and families, but it also can boost local economies as it is spent in area businesses and helps to sustain jobs.

In 2006, approximately 22 million American workers received a total of $43.7 billion in EITC money.

In making the announcement about our EITC Toolkit, Donna Klein, President and Founder of Corporte Voices, said: “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. The information in this reference guide helps employers inform employees and shows them how to keep more of what they earn. And by helping employees claim tax credits and federal benefits, companies build trust by making employees aware of valuable resources.”

And here’s a link to some more information about the Earned Income Tax Credit provided by the Internal Revenue Service.

 

Corporate Voices Releases EITC Guide for Employers/Employees

Corporate Voices for Working Families has released its 2008 Employer Guide: Educate Your Employees About the Benefits They’ve Earned.  This is the sixth year that Corporate Voices has updated the Employer Guide and made it available to companies as a way to help low-wage employees take advantage of a host of federal benefits available to them.  The guide provides detailed information about the Earned Income Tax Credit, Child Tax Credit, Medicaid and other federal benefits.

Donna Klein, president and founder of Corporate Voices, said: “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. The information in this reference guide helps employers inform employees and shows them how to keep more of what they earn. And by helping employees claim tax credits and federal benefits, companies build trust by making employees aware of valuable resources.”

 

 The Employer Guide includes the following tools:

 

·      Information on the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC), Advance EITC, the Child Tax Credit, Medicaid/State Children’s Health Insurance Program (SCHIP), Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), Low Income Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP) and Volunteer Income Tax Assistance (VITA) centers.

·      Tips on how employers can talk to employees about tax credits and federal benefits.

·      Step-by-step instructions on how to enroll employees in Advanced EITC.

·      Guidelines to help employees avoid predatory tax-preparation practices.

·      Corporate best practices on how to best use the Employer Guide to help employees access these programs.

·      Calendar of important dates to remember when filing for these benefits.

·      Facts on the “Stored Value Card,” often referred to as the pre-paid debit card.

·      Paycheck stuffers – available in both English and Spanish.

 The Employer Guide also contains a CD that allows recipients to rebrand the toolkit with their logo and images.

 

 The Annie E. Casey, Ford and Hitachi Foundations fund the production of the Employer Guide: Educate Your Employees About the Benefits They’ve Earned. 

 

 “The Employer Guide gives companies the tools and detailed instructions to talk with workers throughout the year and increase their awareness that they are eligible and should apply for these programs to supplement their income,” Klein said.

 

 The Employer Guide can be downloaded at the Publications and Toolkits section of the Corporate Voices Web site.  To simplify the process of gathering information about programs administered by state agencies, visitors can also link to state and local programs from the Corporate Voices for Working Families Web site.