Headlines about "Flexible work time"
Gathered from the web by the editors at BenefitsLink.com.
Survey Finds Organizations Are Realizing the Benefits of a Telecommuting Workforce
Excerpt: "The CompTIA study of 212 IT and other professionals in a range of industries shows that the benefits of telecommuting to organizations include improved employee productivity (67%), cost savings (59%), access to more qualified staff (39%), employee retention (37%), and improved employee health (25%)." (PLANSPONSOR.com; free registration required)
The 2008 100 Best Companies for Working Moms
Excerpt: "We've hit the working-mother lode this year with our 100 Best Companies. From flextime and telecommuting to backup child care and parental leave, these winners are expanding the concept of family-friendly benefits to make sure they cover adoptive parents, fathers and grandparents as well as working mothers -- even as the economy stumbles." (Working Mother)
Cut Commuting Costs by Using Employer Benefits
Excerpt: "High cost of gasoline getting you down? Your employer may be willing to help. 'Companies are embracing techniques to reduce commuting time and expense,' said Mitch Barnes, principal at Mercer, a New York-based benefits consulting firm. 'It used to be that they did this to balance work-life issues. Now it's becoming more of an employee-driven economic issue.'" (Los Angeles Times)
Employers to Offer Benefits to Offset Higher Fuel Prices, New Study Shows
Excerpt: "Some employers plan to offer various benefits to employees to alleviate the impact of higher gasoline prices, including a compressed workweek and increased use of telecommuting, a new study has revealed. Within the next six months, 22 percent of employers plan to offer at least some of their employees the option of a four-day workweek, and 24 percent plan to allow more employees to telecommute, according to Mercer's 2008 Gas Price Impact SnapShot Survey." (Workforce Management; free registration required)
Employers Get Creative to Ease Impact of Gas Prices
Excerpt: "Organizations are taking a variety of creative steps to help their employees offset the high cost of gasoline, according to Mercer's 2008 Gas Price Impact SnapShot Survey. Within the next six months, almost one in four employers (22%) are for the first time planning to offer at least some of their employees the option of a four-day work week, and 24% are planning to allow more employees to telecommute . . . ." (PLANSPONSOR.com; free registration required)
Work Schedules in the National Compensation Survey
Excerpt: "The work schedule is intended to reflect the hours of work performed in a particular job. In most cases, the actual schedule can be collected. There are times, however, when actual data are not available for a job. In those cases, the NCS attempts to collect the employer's best estimate of the work schedule. If the employer is unable or unwilling to make an estimate, the work schedule used is that of other similarly situated employees in the establishment, if available; if such a work schedule is not available, the job is not included in the calculation of NCS estimates." (U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics)
Retiring in Stages: Boomers Get More Options
Excerpt: "A study released Wednesday by Hewitt Associates found 61 percent of U.S. companies have or will develop programs that let workers retire in stages. The programs are intended to hold onto the experience of baby boomers, and ease the difficulty of replacing their skills. The study included 140 mid-size and large-size companies." (AP via The New York Times; free registration required)
How the Seven Largest Audit Firms Approach Flexible Work Arrangements
Excerpt: "Many companies of all types have responded to the workforce's growing demand for work-life balance with a raft of programs. But few have bent as far as the accounting firms. There, after only a couple years of employment, client-service staffers generally are free to work how, where, and when they want, bestowed with seemingly endless options for customizing their careers." (CFO.com)
European Court Says Employers Must Accommodate Caregivers
Excerpt: "A landmark European ruling effectively gives new rights to employees who are caregivers to sick, disabled, and elderly relatives. The Yorkshire Post reports that the European Court of Justice has declared that a directive banning discrimination in the workplace on grounds of disability not only applies to disabled people but also their caregivers. The ruling could result in a huge extension in flexible and part-time working arrangements, the news report said." (PLANSPONSOR.com; free registration required)
Employee Benefits Like Flex-Time and Showers for Cyclists Can Save Gas – and More
Excerpt: "Birmingham [Alabama] is just one of many cities, counties, and states turning to 'flex-time' to help employees cope with $4-a-gallon gas. It's not a new concept, but if public and private employers made adjustable schedules more widely available – along with telecommuting, mass-transit benefits, and bike facilities – the payoff would go far beyond fuel-cost relief." (The Christian Science Monitor)
Utah State Workers Move to Four-Day Week
Excerpt: "Many state workers in Utah are moving to a four-day work week next month in an effort to 'conserve energy, save money, improve our air quality, and enhance customer service.'" (PLANSPONSOR.com; free registration required)
Employers Pump Up Mileage Reimbursement, but Offer Little Relief for Costly Commutes
Excerpt: "Americans are likely to get only modest help from employers in easing pain at the pump. Two recent surveys show the primary way companies are responding has nothing to do with getting to work." (Workforce Management; free registration required)
Telework: A Green Solution for the 21st Century's Employee Crisis
Excerpt: "Experts have debated at length the cost/benefit analysis of telework from productivity, security, and work-life standpoints, but one thing is for certain. Rising energy costs and the trickling economy have lead to a nationwide cash crunch. New data suggests that telework can contribute strongly to reducing pollution, energy consumption and overhead costs for companies." (Employee Benefit News; free registration required)
Flexible Work Arrangements Gain Attention of Lawmakers
Excerpt: "The U.S. is behind the majority of developed nations when it comes to having statutes in place to allow for flexible work arrangements. Of the 21 'high income' countries examined in a recent study, the U.S. finished last." (Workforce Management; free registration required)
The New Job Sharers
Excerpt: "In addition to women seeking a greater measure of work/life balance, the most recent entrants to the ranks of job sharing include older workers phasing into retirement, Gen Y employees who don't want to work so hard, and disabled workers." (Workforce.com)
[Guidance Overview] Genetic Discrimination Bill Expected to Be Signed Into Law: Concern Over Some Consequences for Employers
Excerpt: "The breadth of the definition [of 'genetic information' raises numerous questions. For example, an employee seeking time off to care for a family member under the Family and Medical Leave Act must provide certification of the family member's serious health condition in order to qualify for leave. This knowledge would qualify as 'genetic information' under the statute's definition. Will employees be able to claim that subsequent disciplinary actions were founded on genetic information discrimination? Does the collection of family health history for a company-sponsored wellness program put the employer at risk for claims of a GINA violation?" (Thompson Hine)
Eldercare Benefit Is Boon to Baby-Boomer Employees
Excerpt: "National studies say companies without elder-care benefits stand to lose $2,500 a year per care-giving employee and that every $1 spent on elder-care benefits gets a return of $1.50 in productivity, retention, and reduced absenteeism. . . . [T]he most important part of Hallmark's elder-care package may be the part that costs nothing at all: flex time." (Kansas City Star)
Employers Lax in Managing Flexible Work Programs
Excerpt: "Employers are embracing flexible work arrangements as a way to meet the needs of a diverse workforce, but most have not structured their programs to maximize the benefits, Hewitt Associates found." (PLANSPONSOR.com; free registration required)
Flex-Time and Telecommuting on Par with Total Compensation in Weighing Job Offers
Excerpt: "Ft. Lauderdale-based IT search and staffing specialist, PROTECH, released the results of its fourth annual IT Professionals Survey in which flex-time and telecommuting tied total compensation as deciding factors in accepting a job offer from a prospective employer. The recent survey of technology professionals in Florida's Broward, Miami-Dade and Palm Beach counties had 544 respondents." (Business Wire via NewsEdge via Human Resource Executive Online)
Telecommuting: Ten Legal Considerations
Excerpt: "Before permitting employees to telecommute, employers should consider the ten legal issues outlined [in the target page]. Employers are also well-advised to develop a written telecommuter agreement advising telecommuting employees of their responsibilities and requiring them to commit to certain performance band behavioral expectations." (Troutman Sanders LLP)
Three Small to Midsize Businesses Show That Size Doesn't Matter in the Growing Trend to Embrace Work-Life Flexibility
Excerpt: "Flexibility is the way business gets done,' says Karen Kerrigan, President and CEO of Women Entrepreneurs, Inc. and moderator of recent panel about flexible work options sponsored by the Department of Labor. The panel featured three small to midsize businesses (SMBs) in a variety of industries across the United States. Each panelist shared their own unique take on finding an appropriate work-life balance - proving that for even the smallest of businesses, a flexible workplace is possible without stretching companies to their limits of patience and resources." (Employee Benefit News; free registration required)
Picking the Perks That Employees Value
Excerpt: "When it comes to employee benefits, the best plan for a small company may be to have no set plan. . . . Kahler Slater has also done something that many smaller companies haven't done: It has surveyed employees to get a sense of what the majority of them valued. Before the company began surveying employees, 'we had a clue' of what mattered to employees, 'but we didn't have a pattern,' that showed the perks employees valued most . . . . The surveys 'prioritized it in a very clear way.'" (The Wall Street Journal)
Generation Y Causing Employment Policies Change
Excerpt: "Gen Y, it seems, expects a constant flow of promotions, flexible schedules, lots of leave and more moneyas if those benefits were its right, not something to be earned. But because Gen Y represents the workforce of the future, employers are changing their HR policies in response to its demands, according to a US survey of 2546 hiring managers at HR professionals conducted by CareerBuilder and Harris Interactive." (Human Resource Executive Online)
BusinessWeek White Paper: The Impact of Commuting on Employees
31 pages. Excerpt: "Purpose of the survey: To explore the challenges and issues that respondents have pertaining to commuting and the role they feel employers should play, as well as the strategies companies are deploying to address these issues. Additionally, to examine the role of commuter benefits as they relate to commuting issues, including level of interest and usage." (BusinessWeek; long registration form required to receive copy)
A Great Place To Work - It Isn't About The Perks, It's 'Respect, Dignity, Flexibility'
Excerpt: "Although some of Fortune magazine's top 100 best companies to work for offer unusual perks such as scuba-certification classes and meditation rooms, it's not the bells and whistles that probably got them there in the first place. The real secret to being a good place to work? 'People are treated with respect, dignity, flexibility,' said Richard Hansen, CEO of Johnson Financial Group , one of three Wisconsin companies to make this year's list. 'It's really not all that complicated.' Hansen said his company's business model aims to offer its clients satisfied, motivated associates, producing low turnover rates in employees and customers." (Wisconsin State Journal)
Clinton, Obama Would Require Employers to Negotiate Workplace Lifestyle Demands
Excerpt: "Employers would have a legal obligation to negotiate with individual employees over changes in scheduling and location under a bill cosponsored by both Democratic presidential candidates. The 'Working Families Flexibility Act' (S. 2419), sponsored by Sen. Ted Kennedy (D-MA) would give employees a statutory right to request changes in the number of hours worked and when and where they are worked." (HR Policy Association)
Flexible Work Arrangements Keep Employees Happy, According to Survey
Excerpt: "A news release from LifeCare, a specialty care service provider, reported that its poll found 49% claimed flex arrangements/part-time work are most critical to their being happy and productive at work." (PLANSPONSOR.com; free registration required)
Recent Trends in Shift Work and Flexible Schedules (PDF)
13 pages. Excerpt: "The traditional work schedule for an American employee has long been 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., Monday through Friday. However, an examination of data from the Work Schedules and Work at Home survey, a special supplement to the Current Population Survey (CPS) conducted in May 2004, reveals that substantial proportions of workers' schedules do not fit this paradigm." (U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics)
Interview with Director of Work/life Solutions at Abbott Laboratories
Excerpt: "Abbott Laboratories has long prided itself for being innovative with work/life programs for its 33,000-plus U.S. employees -- from its $10 million state-of-the-art child care center at its headquarters outside of Chicago to its extensive flextime initiative." (Workforce Management; free registration required)
'Permission' for Work/Life Balance Must Come from the Top
Excerpt: "That is why Ms. Benko would encourage all corporate leaders to be compulsively transparent in 2008. Rather than pretending that work is always first priority, 'the boss should be the first to say, 'I'm not going to make that meeting because my newest grandchild is in town,'' she said." (The New York Times; free registration required)
Workplace Flexibility Can Boost Healthy Behaviors
Excerpt: "'People who believe they have flexibility in their work lives have healthier lifestyles. Individuals who perceive an increase in their flexibility are more likely to start some positive lifestyle changes,' lead author Joseph G. Grzywacz, of Wake Forest University School of Medicine in Winston-Salem, N.C., said in a prepared statement." (The Washington Post; free registration required)
Workplace Tensions Rise As Dads Seek Family Time
Excerpt: "As dads demand paternity leave, flexible work schedules, telecommuting and other new benefits, they've ignited what workplace specialists are calling the Daddy Wars." (USA TODAY)
Flexible Work Schedules Benefit Employees and Employers
Excerpt: "From Spencer's Benefits Reports: Telecommuting is successful for both employees and employers, resulting in higher morale and job satisfaction and lower employee stress and turnover. These were among the conclusions of psychologists who examined 20 years of research on flexible work arrangements." (Wolters Kluwer Financial Services)
For Lawyers, Perks to Fit a Lifestyle
Excerpt: "The benefits for lawyers have burgeoned in recent years as firms pull out the stops to attract top-notch talent. While perks for the partners have always been common, many are now finding their way to associates -- young lawyers who have not yet made partner. And with those associates routinely jumping ship to go elsewhere, law firms are trying to create a workplace that caters to their young recruits' wants and needs, while freeing them to bill 60 hours or more a week. (New York Times)
Testimony: Telework Programs Need Clear Goals and Reliable Data (PDF)
13 pages. Excerpt: "This statement highlights some of GAO's prior work on federal telework programs, including key practices for successful implementation of telework initiatives, identified in a 2003 GAO report and a 2005 GAO analysis of telework program definitions and methods in five federal agencies. It also notes more recent work where agency officials cite their telework programs as yielding benefits." (U.S. Government Accountability Office)
Amid California Wildfires, Flex Is Key to Getting Workers Back on Job
Excerpt: "Atlanta-based Cox [Communications] immediately granted paid time off to employees who needed it and offered financial assistance to those staying in hotels. [T]his policy made it easier for people to come back to work. Within a couple days . . . 80 percent of . . . 2,200 employees were back on the job." (Workforce Management; free registration required)
What Makes a Company a Great Place to Work Today
Excerpt: "From Working Mother magazine's '100 Best Companies' to Business Week's 'Best Places to Launch a Career,' judges are sizing up employers' flexible scheduling and other perks as criteria for coveted top-employer rankings. And family-friendly companies are looking very different today than they did a few years ago. The waning of boomers with their uptight ways, and the rise of the we-want-it-all millennials, are spurring major shifts in employer programs." (The Wall Street Journal Online via Career Journal.com)
Chart: Flexible Work and Part-Time Jobs
Excerpt: "As defined by BLS, working part time is working between 1 and 34 hours per week. BLS data show that in 2006, most people who usually worked part time did so for personal reasons, such as childcare, school, or retirement from a full-time job. Schedules of these part-timers varied, but they worked about 21 hours per week on average." (U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics)
Flexible Work: Adjusting the When and Where of Your Job (PDF)
14 pages. Excerpt: "Learn how to make a current job more flexible -- or how to find a more flexible one. Read about options that will let you work less, work at home, or work alternative hours. The sections describing these options include information about each arrangement, its pros and cons, and how to get it." (U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics)
As Commutes Begin Earlier, New Daily Routines Emerge
Excerpt: "Americans are leaving home earlier and earlier to beat the rush and get to work on time. Census data released today document the ever-lengthening commutes . . . . This 'commuting creep' is changing the lives of tens of millions of Americans. It affects everything from the breakfast-food industry to television viewership trends, from traffic-signal timing to newspaper delivery times, from carpooling patterns to personal fitness routines." (USA TODAY)
Telecommuting Builds Loyalty, According to Survey Report
Excerpt: "A recent survey finds that workers who telecommute from home or elsewhere, while still a very small portion of the work force, report the highest levels of satisfaction with their jobs and loyalty to their employers. In the poll of about 10,000 U.S. workers, 73% of remote and home-based workers said they were satisfied with their company as a place to work, compared with 64% of office workers." (The Wall Street Journal via Workplace Prof Blog)
Gas Prices Affect Recruitment Strategies
Excerpt: "Rising gasoline prices are forcing more employers to consider offering telecommuting and other flexible work arrangements." (Employee Benefit News; free registration required)
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