Corporate Voices for Working Families

With the support of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Corporate Voices for Working Families is undertaking a new workforce readiness initiative to help low-income young adults secure a postsecondary credential that has value in the labor market.

The Gates Foundation distributed a news release today that provides considerable perspective on the scope and importance of this initiative and the role of Corporate Voices.

The announcement also highlights the convening of our Learn and Earn Working Group on Wednesday in Washington. This convening will be attended by senior staff from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, representatives from the U.S. Department of Labor and the U.S. Department of Education, and representatives from a number of companies including Verizon Wireless, Marriott International, Northrop Grumman, CVS/Caremark and Pacific Gas and Electric.

The Working Group will help us identify exemplary employer-led initiatives that support low-income young adults to secure a postsecondary credential, and it provides an opportunity to begin looking for those models that are both highly effective in meeting the needs of both employers and low-income young adults and that can be replicated and taken to scale.

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.

As part of Corporate Voices’ continuing and very active engagement with administration officials and other policymakers on a host of issues involving working families, Donna Klein will attend a meeting at the White House Friday afternoon (February 19) to discuss workplace flexibility.

The invitation was extended by the White House Council on Women and Girls, which is overseeing the work/life agenda for Vice President Biden’s Middle Class Task Force.

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

Corporate Voices has released two comprehensive toolkits that serve as guides for implementing flexibility with an hourly and nonexempt workforce. Developed for Corporate Voices by WFD Consulting and supported by a grant from the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation, these toolkits are derived from the research highlighted in our study, “Innovative Workplace Flexibility Options for Hourly Workers.”

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.

Corporate Voices for Working Families has released two toolkits that serve as guides for implementing flexibility with an hourly and nonexempt workforce.

One toolkit provides tips and tools for managers of hourly workers and is designed to assist them in establishing flexible work arrangements. The other toolkit offers tips and tools for hourly workers and is designed to assist them in initially talking to their manager about a flexible work arrangement and also when they are using a flexible work arrangement.

Highlights from the toolkits for managers and for hourly workers include:

• Tips for managers of hourly workers on how to create a flexible work environment.
• Tips and a discussion guide for managers on how to establish team-based flexibility.
• Tips for hourly workers on how to propose a flexible work arrangement.
• Tips for hourly workers on how to talk to managers about a flexible work arrangement.
• Self-assessment worksheets for managers and hourly workers to be used when considering a particular flexible work option.

The Guide for Implementing Flexibility with an Hourly and Nonexempt Workforce toolkits for managers and for hourly workers, along with their respective worksheets, are available on the Corporate Voices for Working Families website at http://www.cvworkingfamilies.org/publications/workplaceflex.

Developed for Corporate Voices by WFD Consulting and supported by a grant from the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation, these toolkits are derived from the research highlighted in our study, “Innovative Workplace Flexibility Options for Hourly Workers.”

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.