[Opinion] An Overdue Vote on Flexibility Under the FLSA
"[A]mending the FLSA and giving the public sector more flexibility made sense for both public employers and public employees, and it has worked effectively ever since. Now, decades later, Congress may finally take action to extend similar flexibility to the private sector. It's long overdue." (Human Resource Executive Online)

Connecting Work/Life Balance to Employee Turnover
"More than one in four employees at organizations not perceived to support work/life balance plan to leave their employers within the next two years, compared to 17 percent of employees who feel supported ... In addition to affecting turnover, the research showed that employees' perceptions on the matter can affect how they feel about their compensation. Among employees in the bottom quartile, 36 percent said they would agree with the statement, 'I believe I am paid fairly for what I do,' compared with 58 percent at the work/life balance-leading organizations." (Human Resource Executive Online)

The Path to Paid Sick-Leave Laws
"The Healthy Families Act -- introduced in Congress every year since 2004 -- is back on the table, with support for paid sick leave laws growing. The bill's passage, while uncertain in 2013, could eventually expand on FMLA in ways HR should make note of[.]" (Human Resource Executive Online)

Reinstate Fun, Family Focus to Recruit and Retain
"As employees continue to feel more confident about changing jobs, employers once again are turning to nontraditional and sometimes unique job perks to help them meet their hiring needs and retain star staff members. A new wrinkle with this recovery: These aren't across-the-board, extra benefits to which everyone is entitled. More companies are customizing perks to suit the specific employees they have targeted for retention. Some hold out special benefits as rewards for a job well done." (Business Management Daily; free registration required)

Valuing Good Health in Vermont: The Costs and Benefits of Earned Health Care Time (PDF)
"Annually, Vermont employers are expected to expend about $21 million in providing new earned health care time for employees. This cost of the law for employers -- which accrues due to lost productivity and increased wages, including benefits and administrative expenses -- is equivalent in size to a $0.19 per hour increase in wages for employees receiving new leave, or about $6.53 per week for covered workers[.]" (Institute for Women's Policy Research)

House Committee Approves Comp-Time Bill After Rejecting Paid Leave and Other Amendments
"Responding to criticisms of the bill by Committee Democrats, Chairman John Kline (R-MN) emphasized that the bill 'includes numerous employee protections to ensure the voluntary use of comp time.' Arguing against the bill, Ranking Democrat George Miller (D-CA) asserted: 'Effectively, this bill asks workers to work extra hours and give their employers an interest-free loan[.]'" (HR Policy Association)

House Committee Approves Bill to Allow Employees to Take Comp Time in Lieu of Cash Pay for Working Overtime
"As approved by the committee, [the Working Families Flexibility Act of 2013] will: [1] Allow employers to offer employees a choice between cash wages and comp time for overtime hours worked.... [2] Protect employees by requiring the employer and the employee to complete a written agreement to use comp time.... [3] Retain all existing employee protections in current law, including the 40 hour work week and how overtime compensation is accrued.... [4] Allow employees to accrue up to 160 hours of comp time each year." (Committee on Education & the Workforce, U.S. House of Representatives)

[Opinion] AFL-CIO Letter to Congress Opposing the Working Families Flexibility Act (PDF)
"The Working Families Flexibility Act offers workers only an empty promise. It does not assure that the decision to substitute comp time for cash overtime payments will be voluntary. While the bill nominally makes it unlawful for an employer to coerce or intimidate an employee into accepting comp time, it does nothing to prevent an employer from discriminating -- in hiring or in the award of overtime -- against those employees who want paid overtime compensation." (AFL-CIO)

Rising Work-Life Balance Concerns Tied to Employee Turnover Worldwide
"More than one in four employees (27 percent) at organizations that are not perceived to support work-life balance plan to leave their companies within the next two years ... That's compared to only 17 percent of those at companies that ranked among the top quartile for support of employees in achieving a reasonable balance between work and personal life. For an organization with 10,000 employees, a 10 percentage point reduction in turnover over two years would result in savings of $17.5 million[.]" (Hay Group)

Seven Best Practices in FMLA Intermittent Leave Administration
"While small increments of leave time under the Family and Medical Leave Act may cause administrative headaches, there are various tips and strategies on how to contend with time tracking issues and employee abuse of intermittent FMLA leave." (Thompson SmartHR Manager)

U.S. House Hearing: 'Working Families Flexibility Act of 2013'
Video of subcommittee hearing on April 11, 2013. Includes links to testimony by various interested individuals. (Subcommittee on Workforce Protections, Committee on Education & the Workforce, U.S. House of Representatives)

House Republicans Say New Bill Would Provide Working Families More Flexibility
"The Working Families Flexibility Act of 2013: [1] Allows employers to offer employees a choice between cash wages and comp time for overtime hours worked.... [2] Protects employees by requiring the employer and the employee to complete a written agreement to use comp time ... [3] Retains all existing employee protections in current law, including the 40 hour work week and how overtime compensation is accrued.... [4] Allows employees to accrue up to 160 hours of comp time each year." (U.S. Rep. John Kline, Subcommittee on Heath, Employment, Labor and Pensions, Committee on Education & the Workforce, U.S. Senate)

U.S. Ranks 25 Out of 30 in Amount of Vacation Time Available to Employees
"On average, most Americans receive 10 days of paid time off and enjoy an additional 10 national holidays, such as Memorial Day, Fourth of July, and Labor Day. Of the 30 nations surveyed, ... the global average of annual leave and public entitlement to be 28 days, which is eight more days of additional paid time off than what the average U.S. worker receives." (Wolters Kluwer Law & Business)

Survey Explores Flexible Work Arrangement Offerings and Employee Participation Rates
"[A]bout half (53 percent) of organizations provided at least some of their employees with the option of flexible work arrangements, including full- or part-time telecommuting, flexible scheduling and compressed workweeks. But among those organizations, only about one-third (34 percent) reported that a majority of their employees were allowed to take advantage of these benefits." (Society for Human Resource Management)

[Official Guidance] Text of IRS Notice 2012-69: Payments to Charitable Organizations Under Employer Leave-Based Donation Programs to Aid Hurricane Sandy Victims (PDF)
"Under these programs employees elect to forgo vacation, sick, or personal leave in exchange for cash payments an employer makes to organizations described in Section 170(c) of the Internal Revenue Code ... for the relief of victims of Hurricane Sandy. This notice provides guidance on the treatment of these payments for income and employment tax purposes." (Internal Revenue Service)

Eight Flex Trends That Will Affect Your Company
"[The 2012 National Study of Employers from the Families and Work Institute and the Society for Human Resource Management] shows companies are more likely today than seven years ago to allow employees to choose their start and stop times, work from home or other alternative locations and take time off during the workday to tend to personal business as long as they make up the hours later. Here are eight trends identified by the study. 1. Flextime and telework are the new normal ... 2. Part-time work and extended career breaks have lost favor ... 3. FMLA compliance is hit-or-miss ... 4. Less-expensive child-care assistance is on the rise ... 5. Elder-care leave and assistance is catching up ... 6. More employees are turning to EAPs ... 7. More employers value volunteerism ... [and] 8. Employers are adopting new metrics." (Business Management Daily; free registration required)

Nursing Rule Gives a Private Room but No Standing to Sue
"Employees were given new rights to a secure and private place in which to express breast milk under a 2010 amendment to the Fair Labor Standards Act; however, that amendment does not give those employees a private right to sue their employers for failing to provide such a space. Instead, said the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Iowa, employees who are denied their right to express breast milk must contact the U.S. Department of Labor, which is then authorized to investigate and take further action. (Salz v. Casey's Mktg. Co., No. 11-cv-3055 (N.D. Iowa July 19, 2012))" (Thompson SmartHR Manager)

Philadelphia Paid Sick Leave Law Takes Effect July 1
[F]ull-time workers at employers with 11 or more employees will accrue 56 hours of paid sick time each calendar year, while employees of a smaller business will accrue 32 hours of paid sick time. Employers, of course, may select a higher limit. The law mandates that employees accrue a minimum of one hour of paid sick leave for every 40 hours worked in Philadelphia." (Ballard Spahr)

Flex Schedules, Leaving Early on Fridays Are Most Prized Summer Benefits
"Three out of four (75 percent) HR managers interviewed said their company offers flexible schedules during the summer, and more than six in 10 (63 percent) noted that workers are allowed to leave early on Fridays." (Society for Human Resource Management)

Smart Employers Accommodate Needs of Parents in the Workplace
"Smart businesses will recognize that all employees, regardless of their family status, require work/life balance, and that 'families' can be defined in many different ways. Efforts need to be made to accommodate all reasonable requests, and across-the-board fairness has to be our goal. Benefit packages today can be designed with flexibility and choice, ensuring that family situations don't result in inequality." (Kitsay Peninsula Business Journal)

Using Workplace Flexibility As a Business Strategy
"Whether it's telecommuting, compressed work weeks, alternative scheduling or other arrangements, [a conference speaker] called workplace flexibility -- granting employees autonomy to control when, where and how they will get their work done -- 'close to the "silver bullet" among nonfinancial rewards.' But while studies indicate that 80 percent of U.S. businesses say they have implemented workplace flexibility, most have done do so ad hoc rather than establishing a 'flex culture' and embedding flexibility as part of the talent management strategy." (Society for Human Resource Management)

The Families and Work Institute's 2012 National Study of Employers (PDF)
"The 2012 [survey enables the Institute] to assess the extent to which businesses are providing a number of the factors ... identified as components of effective and flexible workplaces and predictive of workers' productivity and well-being. Overall, [looking] at the workplace flexibility landscape for the nation, [there are] two broad trends emerging. Flexibility that enhances an employee's ability to decide when and where they accomplish their work tasks is on the rise with increases in the proportion of employers allowing at least some employees access to flex time and place and choices in managing time since 2005. On the other hand, flexibility around reduced time, caregiving leaves and flex careers has declined since 2005." (Families and Work Institute)

Employers Making Distinctions Among Employees in Offering Flexible Work Schedules
"Some organizations have created flexible work arrangements [for select populations: disabled workers, veterans, low-wage hourly workers, and parents with dependent care responsibilities] such as telecommuting/working from home, traditional flextime, and reduced work hours, to accommodate these populations. Examples of obstacles to implement these flexible work arrangements include concerns about providing equal treatment for employees, ensuring that the work is done, and the impracticality of such arrangements given the nature of jobs in the organization's industry." (Society for Human Resource Management)

Poll Shows Americans See Progress As Women and Men Willingly Make Trade-Offs to Balance Work and Family Life
"The 12th quarterly Allstate-National Journal Heartland Monitor Poll explored the attitudes and experiences of men and women in their home, family and professional lives. More than half (56 percent) of American men and women consider gender diversity to have a positive impact on the economic health of the country, and 36 percent of men and 39 percent of women cite "a flexible work schedule to pursue outside interests and spend time with your family" as their first or second most important reason for working." (Wolters Kluwer Law & Business / CCH)

Government Barriers to Flexible Workplaces
"Among the many laws that have limited the adoption of flexible workplace arrangements, ... the most burdensome is the Fair Labor Standards Act ..., which raises burdens for tracking hours worked out of the office on irregular schedules. 'The FLSA exposes employers to lawsuits over uncompensated overtime -- including suits over the use of mobile devices when employees are off the clock[.]'" (Society for Human Resource Management)

Bill Introduced to Give Employees Statutory Right to Ask for Flex Scheduling
"The Working Families Flexibility Act (H.R. 4106, S. 2142) would allow employees to ask for changes in the terms or conditions of the employee's employment relating to either the employees' required work hours, the employees' required start time, the employees' required worksite, or the notice that employers give regarding work schedule assignments." (Wolters Kluwer Law & Business / CCH)

Telework Week 2012 Encourages More Work from Home
"The second annual Telework Week, taking place March 5-9, 2012, encourages businesses, government agencies and individuals to telecommute. Individuals and organizations can visit Telework Exchange, a public-private partnership, to calculate potential commuter cost and environmental savings and to pledge to telework." (Society for Human Resource Management)

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.)

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