WASHINGTON, DC – The Obama Administration announced plans today to hold a Forum on Workplace Flexibility on March 31st at the White House. The President and First Lady will discuss the importance of creating workplace practices that allow America’s working men and women to meet the demands of their jobs without sacrificing the needs of their families. The forum will be an opportunity for labor leaders, CEOs, small business owners, and policy experts to share their ideas and strategies for making the workplace more flexible for American workers and families.
http://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/white-house-announces-forum-workplace-flexibility/
This article reports on a growing trend among males in the workforce to be wanting to better match their work and family responsibilities.
http://www.news.com.au/opinion/men-yearn-for-a-work-life-balance-too/story-e6frfs99-1225801198318
Perhaps one the key to normalizing flexibility in the workplace is for men to speak up about their desire to have the same flexibility for family time as many women have been expressing and acting on for years.
Now a new study by Families and Work Institute (New York) entitled Times Are Changing:
Gender and Generation at Work and At Home (2009) finds that the gap between men and women as far as both desire for increased responsibility in their work as well as resolution of work/life conflict has closed. In fact, the study indicated that men of all ages report work-family conflicts at as great a rate as women, up 11% since 1977. The ambition of Gen Y/Millennial women, (born 1981- 2000) is at least equal whether they are mothers or not. As recently as 2002 only 48% of young working mothers wanted to climb high on the career ladder. Now the study found that 69% of them do, indicating a generational shift in attitudes from Generation X (born 1965-1981). It also indicated that prejudice against working mothers is easing among both men and women.
The study was a rigorous one, last carried out in 2008 but asking the same questions periodically since 1977. Those people whose own mothers had worked most strongly agreed that working mothers can do just as good a job with their children as those who stay home - proof in the pudding, it seems. And Millennial/Gen Y men spend significantly more time with their children than the generations before them and have taken on more domestic responsibilities.
These data suggest that - at last - there will be more pressure on employers to make career paths more flexible - for all genders and ages.
http://www.familiesandwork.org/site/research/reports/Times_Are_Changing.pdf
This fact sheet provides a simple example of the benefits and implementation steps to achieve flexibility and balance for University of Western Australia Staff.
http://www.commerce.wa.gov.au/labourrelations/PDF/Work Life Balance/UWA_Case_Study_V4.pdf
The Federal Government has overhauled the industrial relations system and introduced ten National Employment Standards through the Fair Work Act 2009. One of these Standards is the “Right to Request Flexibility” (r2r) which will commence on 1 January 2010. Set against a background in which employers are coming to terms with other major changes introduced by the Fair Work Act 2009 on 1 July 2009, and dealing with the Global Financial Crisis, the r2r Standard is at risk of being overlooked. This is of considerable concern given that the r2r Standard provides eligible employees (eg parents of under school age children) with significant entitlements, and imposes strict process and decision-making obligations on employers.
Key findings from an Aequus Partners/CCH national survey on knowledge about the r2r found that most employees and managers appear to have little or no understanding of the change. Over 80% of respondents rated employees’ and managers knowledge of the r2r as either non-existent or low.
“This means the majority of employees don’t know how to make a request under the r2r so that it is compliant and the majority of managers don’t know how and when to respond and only 11% were very or extremely confident that managers will be able to implement the reasonable business grounds test. Unless employers act now, confusion will abound on 1 January 2010, non-compliance will be a certainty and access to flexibility by eligible employees will be thwarted,” said Aequus Partners’ Juliet Bourke.
Notwithstanding this dangerously low knowledge base, nearly 3/4 (74%) of respondents expect that the r2r will in fact generate more work with respect to requests for flexibility by eligible employees (and 59% expect that requests will be made by ineligible employees as well). Without the introduction of proper processes, this workload will become overwhelming.
“A consequence of the apparent lack of knowledge of r2r, coupled with lack of implementation, means that HR have a swag of work ahead. 95% intend to introduce guidelines; 91% will run training for managers; and 89% will update policies” said Bourke.
“Intentions are good but distractions are aplenty and the clock has started ticking. Business needs to give HR the space to implement the flexibility agenda,” said Bourke.
529 respondents completed the on-line survey, from a diverse range of small, medium and large Australian organisations, in the private (68%), public and not-for-profit sectors. Of those who identified their job role (432 respondents) 63% self-identified as holding roles in Human Resources (HR).
Aequus Partners is an independent diversity and flexibility management consulting firm and CCH Australia is a book publishing company.
Workplace Express 7 August 2009:
Management guru Jack Welch is wrong in claiming there is no such thing as work-life balance and that instead, there are work-life choices and consequences that flow from them, leading IR academic Barbara Pocock told a Workplace Research Centre conference in Sydney in August.
According to the Wall Street Journal, Welch on June 28 told the SHRM annual conference in New Orleans: "There is no such thing as work-life balance".
Rather, "there are work-life choices, and you make them, and they have consequences," he told ABC News (US) journalist Claire Shipman, who interviewed him before thousands of conference delegates. Women who take time off for family could miss out on promotions if "you're not there in the clutch," he said.
"The women who have reached the top of Archer Daniels, of DuPont, I know these women. They've had pretty straight careers," he said.
"We'd love to have more women moving up faster. But they've got to make the tough choices and know the consequences of each one."
Taking time off for family “can offer a nice life, but the chances of going to the top on that path” are more limited. “That doesn’t mean you can’t have a nice career," he said.
Pocock, the director of the University of SA's Centre for Work + Life, told Workplace Express after her speech that Welch's view "puts all the weight on the individual who is simply making choices - and should be ready to take the consequences".
But Welch is wrong, she told the Australian Workplace Conference in Sydney.
"Jack's really talking as if this is an entirely individual decision.
"[He's saying:] You make the decision whether you're going to [work for] KPMG, or not. Whether you're going to fly around the globe and work 60 hours a week for most of your working life and whether you'll have children or not and how well and who will look after them.
"But I think what Jack is leaving unchallenged and unspoken is that there are a whole range of workplaces where workers make these choices in... better or worse circumstances," she said.
It makes a big difference when workers have decent rights, a good boss and a carefully managed workload, where it is accepted there will be "times in their life when they will need to step back" and have management support for doing so, she said. In such cases, employers take the "long view" and allow "flexibility and transition over the life course".
"So I think Jack's wrong and we could do a whole lot better," she said.
Pocock cited the recent report in The Australian on a woman who had left her well-paid job in a professional services firm to care for her son.
"She was stepping back from working conditions that were very demanding.
"But many jobs can accommodate working carers and both women and men need the opportunity to work and live a full life over their life-cycle.
"Jack Welch's idea of individual choice puts all the adaption onto the individual worker - rather than on the terms and conditions of work," she said.
Copy provided by Workplace Express
22 June 2009 from CCH Australia News
A recent study of 12 000 top end Australian managers has revealed that the key determinant of an effective work life balance is not a company’s policy in this area but the approach of its line managers.
Professor Linda Duxbury of the Carleton University School of Business presented findings of the 2008 study at AHRI’s National Convention in Sydney.
The study showed that Australian professionals work very hard:
Professor Duxbury pointed out that hours spent at work is not a predictor of productivity, but a “predictor of stupidity”.
No one can work long hours indefinitely: they become exhausted, ill and begin to make mistakes. She identified four areas of work life conflict:
A substantial number of Australian managers and professionals in the study reported high levels of role overload and work interfering with family life. Very few reported high levels of family interfering with work or caregiver strain (in the form of physical, emotional or financial strain).
Prof Duxbury criticised the use of Blackberries, which she called the “spawn of Satan”… given that the study revealed a massive increase in weekly hours of work once employees began using a Blackberry.
Role overload
Role overload occurs due to time spent at work, doing over time and travelling to and from work. In the Australian survey 61% of women and 40 % of men with childcare responsibilities reported being overloaded.
The impact of role overload on an organisation is significant:
While about 80% of survey participants with low overload reported being satisfied with their jobs, just 50% of those with high overload were satisfied.
Work interferes with family
As with role overload, the impact on an organisation includes low job satisfaction and a tendency to take “mental health” days.
Family interferes with work
Around 20% of women and 10% of men in the sandwich generation (ie, having both childcare and eldercare responsibilities) experience this. It too is hugely predictive of absenteeism.
Caregiver strain
This form of strain affects those caring for the elderly. It can take the form of physical, emotional or financial strain. According to the study it is not yet common is Australia, but is likely to increase as the Australian population ages.
Professor Duxbury predicted that caregiver strain is likely to become one of Australia’s biggest issues, and is one where there will be no gender differences.
Access to work life balance
Prof Duxbury pointed out that the various forms of work life conflict all affect absenteeism, turnover, engagement and morale. In Canada, where employers pay for employees’ prescriptive drugs, she said that the biggest spend is on Prozac.
Importantly, Prof Duxbury pointed out that work life policies put in place in an organisation actually have no impact on work life balance in practice because “the jerk you report to gets in the way”. In other words, there is a big gap between policy and practice because much depends on who you report to rather than the polices that the organisation has in place.
In the Australian study 40% of respondents reported good access to work life balance options, 40% reported moderate access, while 20% said they had no access. The key indicator of whether employees were able to access such options did not depend on company policy or on the type of work that was performed. The only predictor was who they reported to.
Management types
Prof Duxbury noted that “employees work for their immediate manager, not for the organisation”. So, what makes for good management? Australian and Canadian studies both identified three types of manager:
Interestingly, the “mixed” managers were the most stressful to work for because they were unpredictable. Mangers who experienced the most stress were the supportive ones because they worked the hardest.
The bottom line
Prof Duxbury reiterated the well known fact that employees do not leave organisations – they leave their managers. Both the Australian and Canadian data shows that management behaviour is a key predictor of an organisation’s:
To be competitive Australian organisations and governments must address the work life issue. It is no longer an issue that affects only young women with children. The situation will worsen as the population ages and more employees enter the sandwich generation and assume eldercare responsibility. With declining fertility rates a smaller pool of offspring will be available to look after the older generation.
Prof Duxbury pointed out that Australia has the highest reliance on part time labour in the world. Part time labour is not the solution because part time workers tend to do more pro rata work at work than full timers, and then do the same amount of work at home as full time parents.
Moving forward
Prof Duxbury stressed the importance of dealing with workload in managerial and professional ranks. Organisations need to:
Young people in their teens and 20’s do not want the working lives that they have seen their parents experience. Flexibility must be a reality.
Prof Duxbury said that managing people is as important as managing shareholder value, operations and budget. Managers must be given time to manage people and must be trained on how to do this.
She concluded by stressing that “only the heart and souls of your people give you a competitive advantage”.
For a free downloadable copy please go to
familiesandwork.org/site/research/reports/Times_Are_Changing.pdf
Seven years on from the introduction to Parliament of the first paid maternity leave legislation, Australia is still debating the merits of such a scheme and still in the embarrassing situation of being one of only two OECD countries not to offer this assistance.
Some took heart with the election of the Rudd Government and its commitment to 'explore ways to make it as easy as possible for working mums to balance their employment with the important job of raising a new generation of Australians'.
But the government's muted response when it received the Productivity Commission's final report earlier this year did not bode well. And now, unnerved by the global financial crisis, the government talks of 'sacrifices' and 'hard choices' when it comes to the May Budget and not being able to do everything it wants. Dishearteningly but not surprisingly, paid maternity (or parental) leave is assumed to be the first sacrificial lamb.
However, modelling by The Australia Institute shows that paid parental leave remains affordable and, in the context of the recession, is a highly efficient way to stimulate the economy. The money is likely to be spent rapidly, spent fully and spent in local shops rather than on foreign holiday destinations.
Based on the Productivity Commission's scheme of 18 weeks paid parental leave at a net cost of $450 million, our analysis shows that the multiplier effects would generate additional GDP of $0.9 billion, creating up to 8,900 new jobs and reducing the net cost of the scheme to $225 million. In the future, the flow-on effect of women's participation in the labour market means that the scheme will more than pay for itself.
The economic merits of paid parental leave can no longer be disputed and an equitable and affordable scheme can and should be funded in the upcoming Budget. Australian families have already waited too long.
A policy brief on paid parental leave entitled Long overdue: The macroeconomic benefits of paid parental leave has been written by David Richardson and Tully Fletcher and is available on the Institute's website, www.tai.org.au.
To view the full results of a national poll, which found that two out of three Australians think the government should use the next federal budget to fund a paid parental leave scheme go to
www.catalyst.org.au/catalyst/images/pdf/papers_catalyst/auspoll_report%20apr09_final.pdf
An Australian Bureau of Statistics report states that 15 per cent of Australian workers aged 45 and over say they don't plan to retire. Most intend to ease down to part-time work. But, overall, less than 30 per cent of middle-aged and older Australians now intend to retire before they turn 65.If this eventuates; it will transform the Australian workforce and concepts of retirement.
Tim Colebatch, Retirement by 70 a fading hope for many, The Age, 25 February, 2009
http://www.theage.com.au/national/retirement-by-70-a-fading-hope-for-many-20090224-8gvu.html
Australian Bureau of Statistics Report 6361.0 - Employment Arrangements, Retirement and Superannuation, Australia, Apr to Jul 2007 (reissue) Reissued 24/2/09
For more information, please follow this link
Jobwise - a Federal Government site devoted to supporting mature age employment.
http://www.jobwise.gov.au/Jobwise/Employers/PracticalGuide/flexibleworkpractices/
The Fair Work Bill was introduced into Parliament in November 2008
The Bill replaces the Workplace Relations Act 1996.
The Bill gives effect to key Government election commitments and is the second phase in the transition to a new workplace relations system for all Australian employers and employees.
The Bill, once passed, will put in place a new workplace relations system built on:
The Fair Work Bill 2008 will commence on 1 July 2009, following its passage through the Parliament. However, consistent with election policy commitments, the National Employment Standards and modern awards will commence on 1 January 2010.
For more information, please follow this link
Consultations in relation to this program have been conducted across Australia. Under the Fresh Ideas for Work and Family Program, small businesses will be able to apply for funding of $5,000 to $15,000 to assist them in meeting the set-up costs of implementing family friendly work arrangements. This program will become available in early 2009 and details are still being finalised. The contact for this program is the Private Sector Branch of the Department of Education, Employment and Workplace Relations at FIWF@deewr.gov.au. More details will be available on the DEEWR website once the Program has been launched.
This Council is an advisory group comprising representatives from industry and unions as well as academic experts that will provide advice to Government on strategies that benefit workers, families and the Victorian community.
Find contact details and description of its role and membership at:
http://www.business.vic.gov.au/BUSVIC/STANDARD/PC_62611.html
Research released by EOWA and Alcoa, shows that an increasing number of organisations are providing flexible work arrangements but more work needs to be done to ensure they can be accessed by employees across all sections and levels. According to the Equal Opportunity for Women in the Workplace Agency’s Survey on Workplace Flexibility, the provision of all forms of flexible working arrangements – part time work, flexible hours, working from home, job sharing, compressed hours, child care assistance & services, and family and carer’s leave - has increased since 2003. For general staff, since 2003 the most significant increases were in the number of organisations that now provide access to compressed hours (up 15%) and the ability to work from home (13.5%) while managers are now more able to access part time work (20%).
http://www.eowa.gov.au/Information_Centres/Media_Centre/Media_Releases/2008_Alcoa_Survey.asp
Anne Bardoel, The Age, 6 November 2008
WHAT will happen to those National Employment Standards proposed for 2010 that are particularly geared to supporting working families and individuals to integrate their work and personal lives? Will issues like paid maternity leave and the right to request flexible work arrangements just disappear along with stock values? For the pessimists among us it's easy to think the answer is "yes". After all, if the economy takes a plunge, if we enter a recession or depression, people will be scared of losing their jobs. In that kind of environment, nobody would complain about working a 65-hour week if it meant having a job and keeping food on the table. Work-life issues will not only stick around, but strengthen. There are enduring trends that are forcing individuals, businesses and governments to take account of work-life issues that even the financial crisis will not change. The demographics of the labour force in Western economies have fundamentally changed over the past generation. The dramatic changes to the composition of the workforce mean that we have gone from a division of labour of men as breadwinners and women as family care givers, to where men and women are both breadwinners. The workforce reality today is women in the workforce, dual-earner families, increase in part-time work, men wanting to spend more time with children and an ageing population. ........
In order to read the full article, please follow this link or Download this PDF file.
CANBERRA, 29 Sept 2008 AAP
The Productivity Commission has recommended the federal government pay new mothers or fathers for 18 weeks of parental leave. The commission today handed down its interim report into maternity, paternity and parental leave, setting the groundwork for a national scheme.
It has recommended that the government adopt a taxpayer-funded leave scheme which would pay the primary care giver at the minimum wage rate, currently $544 a week.But it has also recommended the $5,000 baby bonus be scrapped.
Employers would pay the parent's superannuation as part of a scheme which would benefit about 140,000 parents each year at an additional cost of $450 million, the commission says. The overall cost would be $1.3 billion a year.
The commission's proposal is longer than the 14-week model advocated by unions, business and federal Sex Discrimination Commissioner Elizabeth Broderick.
The inquiry was set up earlier this year by the Rudd government to examine ways to improve support for parents of newborns. Public hearings have been held around Australia, and hundreds of submissions have been delivered in favour of a national paid scheme. Australia and the United States are the only developed countries that do not have paid maternity leave across the workforce. While most female workers in Australia are entitled to 12 months' unpaid maternity leave, only about 40 per cent have access to paid leave. The commission will seek national consultation on the recommendations in the interim report over the next few months. Its final report is due to be delivered to the federal government in February next year.
Mike Preston, 17 June 2008
On 16 June, Prime Minister Kevin Rudd and Industrial Relations Minister Julia Gillard released the new National Employment Standards. This article provides a guide to each of the ten standards.
A full copy of the National Employment Standards can be accessed at:
http://www.workplace.gov.au/NR/rdonlyres/1955FD28-3178-44CD-9654-56A3D5391989/0/NationalDiscussionPaper_web.pdf
Leave Matters, 7 July 2008
New national research has offered a rare glimpse into the timing of Australian mothers’ return to work after the birth of a child.
Women who had access to leave at the time of the birth – whether paid or unpaid – had a faster return to work than those who did not.
The data – drawn from the Parental Leave in Australia Survey, part of the Longitudinal Survey of Australian Children – represents the first up-dated analysis of maternal employment transitions in more than two decades.
http://www.aifs.gov.au/institute/media/media080707.html
Media Report, 11 June 2008
Mercer recently commissioned research profiling the workplace in 2012 which includes forecasts of workforce participation, employment and GDP in 2012 by industry, age and gender. Key findings of Workplace 2012, which profiles the workforce between now and 2012 are:
http://www.mercer.com.au/workplace2012
Sarah O’Carroll, 8 July 2008
THE NUMBER of women in the workplace over the age of 55 will increase by 19 per cent between now and 2012.
Australia’s overall workforce participation rate will decrease in the next four years, and of the workforce that will be available, 17 per cent will be over the age of 55, according to a recent report.
The report, Workplace 2012, says the flexible working arrangements announced as part of the Government’s ten National Employment Standards will therefore be a key factor in utilising this ageing workforce.
http://www.humanresourcesmagazine.com.au/articles/F0/0C057FF0.asp?Type=59&Category=917
Deborah Gough, 13 July 2008
PAID maternity leave deals introduced this year with great fanfare by some of Australia's largest retailers will actually exclude tens of thousands of their female workers.
Casual staff, including thousands who have worked regular shifts for years, will not be eligible for the parental leave introduced by Myer and Woolworths.
And full-time and permanent-part-time staff will be required to meet stringent conditions before they qualify for the leave.
Myer, Woolworths and Aldi have introduced maternity leave provisions this year while the Productivity Commission investigates paid maternity and paternity leave.
But on closer inspection, only Aldi seems to have introduced provisions that are equitable for all its women employees.
There are around 250,000 children born in each year in Australia. Many working parents caring for these children are not entitled to paid parental leave. The Productivity Commission has been asked to inquire into the economic and social costs and benefits of paid maternity, paternity and parental leave. The Work/Life Association recently made a submission on behalf of its network to the Inquiry which is available here.
The Honourable Julia Gillard, MP, Minister for Education, Employment and Workplace Relation and Minster for Social Inclusion has announced that the Productivity Commission is to look at the effectiveness of different methods of support for parents with newborn children including the issue of paid maternity leave.
This is a basic work/family issue and there are loads of perspectives. However, with more than 300.000 women in the labour force having a baby every year, the issue of work and childcare needs constant examination and the development of suitable responses. Human Resources Magazine examines the issue in Making Work Family Friendly.
http://www.humanresourcesmagazine.com.au/articles/EE/0C0538EE.asp?Type=60&Category=881
CCH Australia Limited, 17 April 2009
Labor is under growing pressure to fund paid maternity leave in the budget with new modelling showing it would boost economic activity and create thousands of jobs.
The federal government is considering the Productivity Commission's final report into tax payer funded leave but has hinted it won't be included in next month's budget because of the economic downturn.
The commission's draft report backs 18 week's taxpayer-funded leave, paid at the minimum wage of $544 a week.
The price tag is $450 million annually for government and $74 million for business.
Please click here to read the full article
You may need to be a registered user of the CCH website to view this article. (Registration is free: read all about the benefits including free daily e-mail alerts containing latest Tax, Accounting & Financial Planning, HR, Employment & Safety, Corporate & Business Law and Other Law & Practice) click here.
Reducing Role Overload in the Health Care Sector
You are invited to attend a special forum on the topic of Reducing Role Overload in the Health Care Sector arranged by the Work/Life Association in conjunction with Monash University's Australian Centre for Research in Employment and Work (ACREW) and Victorian Hospitals’ Industrial Association.
+ MoreFor presentations from the Right to Request Flexible Work business forum held on 19 May click here.
+ MorePresident Obama and Michelle Obama are taking a keen interest in workplace flexibility
The Obama Administration announced plans to hold a Forum on Workplace Flexibility on March 31st at the White House.
+ MORETowards flexibility being the “new normal” in the American workplace
A recently released US report from Workplace Flexibility 2010, a Georgetown Law-based think tank, outlines a comprehensive set of policy solutions to expand Americans’ access to flexible work arrangements (FWAs) such as compressed workweeks, predictable schedules, and telework. The common-ground solutions described in the report can benefit both working families and businesses.
+ MOREAustralian men yearn for work/life balance
This article reports on a growing trend among males in the workforce to be wanting to better match their work and family responsibilities.
+ MOREFlexibility for men and women and all ages
Perhaps one the key to normalizing flexibility in the workplace is for men to speak up about their desire to have the same flexibility for family time as many women have been expressing and acting on for years.
+ MORE