“A Woman’s Nation” and Flexibility

Throughout the month of October — National Work & Family Month — we have been looking at a variety of issues and topics involving working families. Here’s a recent article on The Huffington Post by Chai R. Feldblum and Katie Corrigan, “A Woman’s Nation Demands Workplace Flexibility.”

Here’s an excerpt:

This week, Maria Shriver released a report on the status of women in America – and on the radical transformations that have taken place in our society as a result of women’s entrance into the workforce. “The Shriver Report: A Woman’s Nation Changes Everything” examines the tremendous impact women have in the 21st century economy. But it also reveals the implications of women’s changing economic status on the social and cultural institutions that define us – from government, business, and faith-based organizations to our individual communities and families.

And more:

Workplace flexibility is one of the priorities for the White House Task Force on Middle-Class Working Families and First Lady Michelle Obama’s Office. Indeed, at the Corporate Voices for Working Families Annual Meeting in May, Mrs. Obama called for a broad, national conversation on how we can best support working parents – particularly through policies providing sick leave, increased maternity leave, and flexible work arrangements.

Mrs. Obama’s call for increased workplace flexibility rings in harmony with Maria Shriver’s report. If women – and men, for that matter – are to reach their full potential in the workplace, then workplace structures must evolve to allow them full, meaningful participation in their families and communities. Our hope is that the Shriver Report will help spur a high-level, national conversation on the need to shift the structures of our workplaces to meet the realities facing working families today. Our goal at Workplace Flexibility 2010 is to move that conversation forward – toward common-sense public policy solutions that will weave workplace flexibility into the fabric of the American workplace.

And here’s the post by Donna Klein — “How We Have Failed Working Families, And What We Can Do About It“ – that appears on The Huffington Post in conjunction with National Work & Family Month.

Publications, research studies and toolkits on a host of work/life and work and family balance issues are available on the Corporate Voices Web site.

Read more at: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/chai-r-feldblum/a-womans-nation-demands-w_b_325984.html

Read more at: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/chai-r-feldblum/a-womans-nation-demands-w_b_325984.html

The Recession and Work and Family

As we continue to examine various issues during National Work & Family Month in October, the Sloan Work and Family Research Network is an excellent source of research, position papers and briefings, and other information.

For instance, the Sloan Network recently published a policy brief, “The Impact of the Recession on Work and Family.”

And here’s the post by Donna Klein — “How We Have Failed Working Families, And What We Can Do About It“ – that appears on The Huffington Post in conjunction with National Work & Family Month.

Publications, research studies and toolkits on a host of work/life and work and family balance issues are available on the Corporate Voices Web site.

Huffington Post: Corporate Voices Post on Working Families

A post by Donna Klein — “How We Have Failed Working Families, And What We Can Do About It“ – appears on The Huffington Post today.

The post is part of an ongoing series focusing on various issues during National Work & Family Month in October.

Here’s from Donna’s post:

Working families — from all socio-economic classes — are the keystone of our nation’s economic prosperity and competitiveness. Yet as a nation we have failed working families because public and corporate policy have not mirrored their needs or the world in which they now live and work.

Work & Family Month presents a opportunity for all of us to consider the need for a new ethic of shared responsibility — between the public and private sectors — and launch a bold, new vision for supporting the lives of all working families so that they can continue to drive the competitiveness of American businesses in the 21st century.

Publications, research studies and toolkits on a host of work/life and work and family balance issues are available on the Corporate Voices Web site.

Corporate Voices: Welcome Ellen Goldstein

Ellen Goldstein has joined Corporate Voices for Working Families as Senior Advisor to the President. Ellen has extensive background gained in senior-level management positions in corporate, government and nonprofit organizations, and her experience adds to the depth and breadth of our management team as we continue to grow and embark on significant new projects.

In making the announcement, Donna Klein, Executive Chair and President, said that at Corporate Voices Ellen will begin by adding value to our project mapping and messaging in the workforce readiness space, strategic planning and coalition building in both the private and nonprofit arenas.

Ellen’s professional experience includes:

• Over a decade with General Electric Company in senior government relations and public affairs executive positions.
• The Alzheimer’s Association as Director of Government Relations.
• American Benefits Council as Vice President for Communications and Health Policy.
• The White House Domestic Policy Council as Assistant Director for Human Resources.

Flexible Schedules for Hourly Workers Becoming More Prevalent

A new study by WorldatWork and the Work Design Collaborative (WDC) indicates that the number of hourly workers in the U.S. using flexible scheduling benefits such as teleworking is larger than expected. The study, “Flexible Work Arrangements for Nonexempt Employees,” found that a surprisingly high number of companies are allowing nonexempt employees to telework despite traditional limitations such as work hour and safety requirements.

Among the key findings:

• Nonexempt employees participate in flexible work programs to a much larger extent than researchers had anticipated. 45% of survey respondents (61 out of 135 organizations) report they include nonexempt employees in those programs.
• The three biggest industrial sectors allowing nonexempts to telework were manufacturing, education and business services. Manufacturing came as a surprise as it is traditionally dominated by nonexempt employees working on site.

Corporate Voices for Working Families released Innovative Workplace Flexibility Options for Hourly Workers in May, which also concluded that workplace flexibility works as well for hourly workers as it does for professional workers. To view this and other reports on workplace flexibility, please visit the Corporate Voices website.

By Allison Tomei

Corporate Voices in Parade Magazine

Donna Klein, Executive Chair of Corporate Voices was quoted in a recent Parade magazine article about the affordability of quality child care.

The article states that two-thirds of all American women are working by the time their first child is a year old, compared with only 17% four decades ago.  The cost of child care—which has risen by as much as 11% in the last two years—varies widely, depending on such factors as location, type of care, and the age of the child. Nationwide, the cost ranges from $3380 to $10,787 for one preschooler, according to the National Association of Child Care Resource & Referral Agencies. Full-time care for one infant at a center can be as much as $15,895 a year. A full-time babysitter may cost from $400 to $1,000 a week, depending on where you live.

Corporate Voices has been taking a leading role in advocating for an increase in the cap of dependent care spending accounts. The current DCFSA cap was a figure that was established in the Tax Reform Act of 1986.  More than 20 years have passed and in today’s dollars, this tax benefit is worth only $2,800, even as the cost of child care has dramatically increased.

According to federal law, any employer can establish a DCAP (Dependent Care Account Program), allowing employees to set aside up to $5,000 of pre-tax income (or a lower ceiling, if the employer chooses) to help cover the cost of child care, elder care, or care of a disabled spouse or disabled dependent. Employees do not have to pay federal income taxes or Social Security and Medicare taxes on the funds they’ve set aside. They can save—depending on their incomes—between $1,100 – $2,600 a year on their child care or dependent care expenses.

By Allison Tomei

Corporate Voices Partner Company Testifies at Senate Subcommittee Hearing

The upcoming reauthorization of the Workforce Investment Act creates an opportunity to advance our goal of helping low income, low skilled young adults, as well as unemployed or underemployed adults, find routes to family supporting jobs with career paths by providing them with the skills and knowledge they need to succeed in a knowledge-based economy.

Steve Wing, Director of Workforce Initiatives at CVS Caremark and Board Member of Corporate Voices, was invited to testify before the Senate Subcommittee on Employment and Workplace Safety on Thursday, July 16. Steve highlighted information on a number of innovative iniatives and partnerships he has developed at CVS to provide jobs with career path opportunities to a wide range of individuals. Video of the hearing and a copy of his and other panelists’ remarks are available here. We appreciate Steve’s commitment to this issue and his willingness to participate in this hearing.

By Allison Tomei

Corporate Voices and Dependent Care Spending Accounts

Corporate Voices for Working Families has been taking a leading role in advocating for enhancements to dependent care spending accounts.

Here’s an excellent overview of the issue — and the bipartisan effort under way now to increase the current spending and benefit limits — by Sue Shellenbarger in the online edition of the Wall Street Journal (WSJ.com) titled “Dependent Care Spending Accounts: Do They Work For You?”

The WSJ blog post includes the perspective provided by Allison Tomei of Corporate Voices that “since 1986, inflation has slashed the value of the tax break nearly in half.”

Sloan Policy Brief Examines Paid Family Leave

The Sloan Work and Family Research Network has published a new policy brief that examines paid family leave. The policy brief, “Paid Family Leave: One Solution to Helping Today’s Working Families Meet Their Family Responsibilities at Critical Times,” describes state policy efforts to address paid family leave.

According to the Sloan Work and Family Research Network, the brief also looks at why paid family leave policy is being introduced, why federal legislation — the Family and Medical Leave Act — is insufficient for many, and how paid family leave affects working families, employers and government.

Work-Life and Dads

The current recession has placed increasing stress on working families as businesses strive to do more with less (heavier workloads, longer hours). An article on CNN.com summarizes a CareerBuilder Survey, Working Dads, which asked 797 men who are employed full-time and have children 18 and younger living at home, about their current work/life balance. Most fathers surveyed agreed that they are hesitant to give up their income in the current economy but are increasingly interested in exploring alternate pathways that allow them to spend more quality time with their families.

Work/life balance has always been a struggle for fathers and continues to be even more of an issue. With the advanced technology of cell phones, it is nearly impossible to separate work from home life. Thirty percent of surveyed fathers admitted that they would take a pay cut if they were given the opportunity to spend more time at home with their children. Some other interesting statistics from the article that illustrate the struggle of working parents:

-Thirty-nine percent of surveyed dads spend two hours or less per workday with their children, and 14 percent spend an hour or less.

-Half of working fathers admit to missing a significant event in their children’s lives in the last year due to work; 28 percent missed more than three.

These statistics illustrate the need for companies to offer alternatives that provide their employees with greater balance between their home and work. Providing employees with greater work/life balance leads to more productive and happier employees creating a benefit for both the employer and worker. For more information on workplace flexibility visit www.cvworkingfamilies.org.

By Kaitlin Herbert