SHRM Survey Findings: Workplace Flexibility for Select Populations

1. SHRM Survey Findings: Workplace Flexibility for Select Populations April 26 , 2012

2. Definitions • Disabled worker: employee with a disability that qualifies under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). • Low-wage/hourly worker: employee earning $15.50/hour or less.

3. Key Findings • Disabled workers • Do organizations currently employ individuals with disabilities that qualify under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA)? Nearly two-thirds (65%) of organizations currently employ individuals with disabilities that qualify under the ADA. Almost one-half (47%) of the organizations have also created flexible work arrangements specifically for this population. Of the organizations that do not currently employ individuals with ADA-qualified disabilities, one-third (33%) indicated that they would provide flexible work arrangements if requested, while 65% indicated that the decision would be made on a case-by-case basis. • What type of flexible work arrangements does your organization offer for employees with ADA-qualified disabilities? Among organizations that employ individuals with ADA-qualified disabilities and offer flexible work arrangements specifically created for these employees, the most common flexible work arrangement was reduced work hours (60%). Organizations also provided traditional flextime (59%), telecommuting/ working from home options (55%) and break arrangements (47%).

4. Key Findings • Veterans • How likely are organizations to provide flexible work arrangements for veterans? Among the organizations that do not currently employ any veterans, 23% indicated that they would provide flexible work arrangements if a veteran requested such arrangements, while 73% of organizations indicated that the decision would be made on a case-by-case basis. Organizations that already employ and provide veteran employees with flexible work arrangements typically offer shift flexibility (66%), last-minute flexibility (55%), traditional flextime (52%) and telecommuting/work from home options (52%). • What are the obstacles to implementing flexible work arrangements for veteran employees? Approximately one-third (35%) of organizations had concerns about providing equal treatment for all employees. Other challenges in implementing flexible work arrangements for veteran employees included ensuring that the work is done/satisfying the customer (30%) and the impracticality given the nature of jobs in the organization’s industry (25%).

5. Key Findings • Low-Wage/Hourly Workers • Do organizations currently employ low-wage/hourly workers? Approximately three-quarters of organizations (78%) employ low-wage/hourly workers. Of these organizations, one-quarter (25%) have created and implemented flexible work arrangements specifically for these employees. • What flexible work arrangements do organizations offer specifically for low-wage/hourly employees? Nearly three-quarters of organizations (71%) offer reduced work hours for their low-wage/hourly workers. Other common flexible work arrangements provided to low-wage/hourly employees include traditional flextime (61%), shift flexibility (59%), break arrangements (51%) and leave for caregiving (51%).

6. Key Findings • Parents With Dependent Care Responsibilities • Do organizations design flexible work arrangements specifically for employees who are parents with dependent care responsibilities? Roughly one-third of organizations (32%) indicated that they have created and implemented flexible work arrangements specifically for this population. According to these organizations, the most common flexible work arrangements are traditional flextime (73%), last-minute flexibility (65%), reduced work hours (57%) and leave for caregiving (57%). • Have organizations used flexible work arrangements as a means to recruit parents with dependent care responsibilities? The majority of organizations (96%) indicated that they do not make any special effort beyond what they do to recruit all employees. HR professionals report that the main obstacles to implementing flexible work arrangements are equal treatment for all employees (40%), ensuring work is done/satisfying the customer (37%), difficulty in supervising employees (30%) and possible co-worker resentment (30%).

7. Disabled Workers

8. Does your organization currently employ any individuals with disabilities that qualify under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA)? • Note: n = 422. Respondents who answered “Don’t know” were excluded from this analysis.

9. Does your organization currently employ any individuals with disabilities that qualify under the ADA? Comparisons by organization staff size Organizations with 500 to 24,999 employees are more likely than organizations with 1 to 499 employees to currently employ any individuals with disabilities that qualify under the ADA. Note: Only statistically significant differences are shown.

10. Has your organization created and implemented any flexible work arrangements specifically for your employees who are individuals with disabilities that qualify under the ADA? • Note: n = 217. Respondents who answered “Don’t know” were excluded from this analysis. Only respondents whose organizations currently employ individuals with disabilities were asked this question.

11. What flexible work arrangements does your organization offer specifically for your employees who are individuals with ADA-qualified disabilities? • Note: n = 98. Only respondents whose organizations employ individuals with disabilities and have created and implemented flexible work arrangements specifically for those employees were asked this question. Percentages do not equal 100% due to multiple response options. An asterisk (*) indicates that this response option was developed from open-ended responses.

12. Would your organization provide flexible work arrangements if an individual with an ADA-qualified disability requested such arrangements? • Note: n = 151. Respondents who answered “Don’t know” were excluded from this analysis. Only respondents whose organizations currently employ individuals with disabilities but have not created or implemented any specific flexibility options for individuals with disabilities were asked this question.

13. If your organization hired an individual with an ADA-qualified disability, would it provide flexible work arrangements upon the employee’s request? • Note: n = 207. Respondents who answered “Don’t know” were excluded from this analysis. Only respondents whose organizations do not currently employ individuals with disabilities were asked this question.

14. Does your organization actively recruit employees with ADA-qualified disabilities? • Note: n = 347. Respondents who answered “Don’t know” were excluded from this analysis.

15. Does your organization actively recruit employees with ADA-qualified disabilities? Comparisons by organization staff size Organizations with 2,500 to 24,999 employees are more likely than organizations with 1 to 99 employees to actively recruit employees with ADA-qualified disabilities. Comparisons by organization sector Publicly owned for-profit and nonprofit organizations are more likely than privately owned for-profit organizations to actively recruit employees with ADA-qualified disabilities. Note: Only statistically significant differences are shown.

16. Has your organization used flexible work arrangements as a means to specifically recruit ADA-qualified disabled individuals? • Note: n = 127. Respondents who answered “Don’t know” were excluded from this analysis. Only respondents whose organizations actively recruit individuals with disabilities and those who didn’t know if their organizations actively recruit individuals with disabilities were asked this question.

17. Does your organization actively attempt to retain employees with ADA-qualified disabilities? • Note: n = 396. Respondents who answered “Don’t know” were excluded from this analysis.

18. Does your organization offer any supervisor/managerial training related to support for disabled workers’ workplace flexibility? • Note: n = 375. Respondents who answered “Don’t know” were excluded from this analysis.

19. Does your organization offer any supervisor/managerial training related to support for disabled workers’ workplace flexibility? Comparisons by organization staff size Organizations with 25,000 or more employees are more likely than organizations with 1 to 499 employees to offer supervisor/managerial training related to support for disabled workers’ workplace flexibility. Note: Only statistically significant differences are shown.

20. What are the main obstacles to implementing flexible work arrangements for disabled workers? • Note: n = 399. Percentages do not equal 100% due to multiple response options.

21. What are the main obstacles to implementing flexible work arrangements for disabled workers? (continued) • Note: n = 399. Percentages do not equal 100% due to multiple response options.

22. Veterans

23. Does your organization currently employ any veterans? • Note: n = 403. Respondents who answered “Don’t know” were excluded from this analysis.

24. Does your organization currently employ any veterans? Comparisons by organization staff size Organizations with 100 to 2,499 employees are more likely than organizations with 1 to 99 employees to currently employ veterans. Note: Only statistically significant differences are shown.

25. Has your organization created and implemented any flexible work arrangements specifically for employees who are veterans? • Note: n = 295. Respondents who answered “Don’t know” were excluded from this analysis. Only respondents whose organizations currently employs veterans were asked this question.

26. What flexible work arrangements does your organization offer specifically for your employees who are veterans? • Note: n = 29. Only respondents whose organizations currently employ veterans and have created and implemented flexible work arrangements specifically for those employees were asked this question. Percentages do not equal 100% due to multiple response options. An asterisk (*) indicates that this response option was developed from open-ended responses.

27. Would your organization provide flexible work arrangements if a veteran requested such arrangements? • Note: n = 300. Respondents who answered “Don’t know” were excluded from this analysis. Only respondents whose organizations currently employ veterans, but have not created or implemented any specific flexibility options for veterans were asked this question.

28. If your organization hired a veteran, would it provide flexible work arrangements upon the employee’s request? • Note: n = 92. Respondents who answered “Don’t know” were excluded from this analysis. Only respondents whose organizations do not currently employ veterans were asked this question. Percentages do not equal 100% due to rounding.

29. Does your organization actively recruit veterans? • Note: n = 377. Respondents who answered “Don’t know” were excluded from this analysis.

30. Does your organization actively recruit veterans? Comparisons by organization staff size Organizations with 100 or more employees are more likely than organizations with 1 to 99 employees to actively recruit veterans. Comparisons by organization sector Publicly owned for-profit organizations are more likely than nonprofit and privately owned for-profit organizations to actively recruit veterans. Note: Only statistically significant differences are shown.

31. Has your organization used flexible work arrangements as a means to specifically recruit veterans? • Note: n = 134. Respondents who answered “Don’t know” were excluded from this analysis. Only respondents whose organizations actively recruit veterans and those who didn’t know if their organizations actively recruit veterans were asked this question.

32. Does your organization actively attempt to retain veterans? • Note: n = 401. Respondents who answered “Don’t know” were excluded from this analysis.

33. Does your organization actively attempt to retain veterans? Comparisons by organization staff size Organizations with 2,500 to 24,999 employees are more likely than organizations with 1 to 99 employees to actively attempt to retain veterans. Note: Only statistically significant differences are shown.

34. Does your organization offer any supervisor/managerial training related to support for veteran workplace flexibility? • Note: n = 364. Respondents who answered “Don’t know” were excluded from this analysis. Percentages do no equal 100% due to rounding.

35. What are the main obstacles to implementing flexible work arrangements for veterans? • Note: n = 399. Percentages do not equal 100% due to multiple response options.

36. What are the main obstacles to implementing flexible work arrangements for veterans? (continued) • Note: n = 399. Percentages do not equal 100% due to multiple response options.

37. Low-Wage/Hourly Workers

38. Does your organization currently employ any low-wage/hourly workers? • Note: n = 427. Respondents who answered “Don’t know” were excluded from this analysis.

39. Does your organization currently employ any low-wage/hourly workers? Comparisons by organization staff size Organizations with 500 to 24,999 employees are more likely than organizations with 1 to 99 employees to currently employ low-wage/hourly workers. Note: Only statistically significant differences are shown.

40. Has your organization created and implemented any flexible work arrangements specifically for your employees who are low-wage/hourly workers? • Note: n = 310. Respondents who answered “Don’t know” were excluded from this analysis. Only respondents whose organizations currently employ low-wage/hourly workers were asked this question.

41. What flexible work arrangements does your organization offer specifically for employees who are low-wage/hourly workers? • Note: n = 76. Only respondents whose organizations currently employ low-wage/hourly workers and have created and implemented flexible work arrangements specifically for those employees were asked this question. Percentages do not equal 100% due to multiple response options.

42. Would your organization provide flexible work arrangements if a low-wage/hourly worker requested such arrangements? • Note: n = 241. Respondents who answered “Don’t know” were excluded from this analysis. Only respondents whose organizations currently employ low-wage/hourly workers, but have not created or implemented any flexible work arrangements specifically for those employees were asked this question.

43. If your organization hired a low-wage/hourly worker, would it provide flexible work arrangements upon the employee’s request? • Note: n = 88. Respondents who answered “Don’t know” were excluded from this analysis. Only respondents whose organizations do not currently employ low-wage/hourly workers were asked this question. Percentages do not equal 100% due to rounding.

44. Does your organization actively recruit low-wage/hourly workers? • Note: n = 402. Respondents who answered “Don’t know” were excluded from this analysis.

45. Does your organization actively recruit low-wage/hourly workers? Comparisons by organization staff size Larger organizations with 100 or more employees are more likely than organizations with 1 to 99 employees to actively recruit low-wage/hourly workers. Note: Only statistically significant differences are shown.

46. Has your organization used flexible work arrangements as a means to specifically recruit low-wage/hourly workers? • Note: n = 218. Respondents who answered “Don’t know” were excluded from this analysis. Only respondents whose organizations actively recruit low-wage/hourly workers and those who didn’t know if their organizations actively recruit low-wage/hourly workers were asked this question.

47. Does your organization actively attempt to retain low-wage/hourly workers? • Note: n = 380. Respondents who answered “Don’t know” were excluded from this analysis.

48. Does your organization actively attempt to retain low-wage/hourly workers? Comparisons by organization staff size Organizations with 500 to 2,500 and 25,000 or more employees are more likely than organizations with 1 to 99 employees to actively attempt to retain low-wage/hourly workers. Note: Only statistically significant differences are shown.

49. What are the main obstacles to implementing flexible work arrangements for low-wage/hourly workers? • Note: n = 399. Percentages do not equal 100% due to multiple response options.

50. What are the main obstacles to implementing flexible work arrangements for low-wage/hourly workers? (continued) • Note: n = 399. Percentages do not equal 100% due to multiple response options.