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ODEP-Women’s Bureau Workplace Flexibility Initiative

ODEP-Women’s Bureau Workplace Flexibility Initiative. Disability Employment Initiatives’ Grantee Webinar Carol Boyer Policy Advisor Office of Disability Employment Policy U.S. Department of Labor April 12, 2011. Workplace Flexibility Definition.

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ODEP-Women’s Bureau Workplace Flexibility Initiative

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  1. ODEP-Women’s Bureau Workplace Flexibility Initiative Disability Employment Initiatives’ Grantee Webinar Carol Boyer Policy Advisor Office of Disability Employment Policy U.S. Department of Labor April 12, 2011

  2. Workplace Flexibility Definition • WF pertains to a spectrum of work structures that alters the time and/or place that work gets done on a regular basis • About how work gets done • 21st Century response to a one-size-fits-all way of working • Can make companies more profitable and improve lives • “ . . . in today’s 21st century work force, nearly four out of five working Americans—across age, income, and stage in life—want more flexibility at work. But a flexibility gap exists: the demand for flexibility far exceeds its availability" (Source: Alfred P. Sloan Foundation’s Workplace, Work Force, and Working Families Program)

  3. Why Does WF Matter to DEI Grantees? • Older workers need to work longer to save for retirement • Many lower-wage workers have nonstandard work schedules & multiple jobs to make ends meet • More people with disabilities are working/not working but need a range of supports • Youth demand WF environments

  4. Women’s Bureau’s Workplace Flexibility Initiative • The WB and its National Dialogue on Workplace Flexibility initiative directly support the Secretary of Labor’s strategic goal of assuring fair & high-quality work-life environments and the White House’s efforts to promote workplace flexibility • Promoting work-life balance, including flexible workplace polices, is one of the many ways the WB will improve working conditions & promote economic security for all working women

  5. ODEP-WB Workplace Flexibility Initiative • Collaboration between ODEP & DOL’s Women’s Bureau (WB) MOA signed 8/9/10 • To expand and promote the use of flexible workplace strategies for people with complex situations • Workplace Flexibility Forum (1/24/11) • Roadmap of Recommendations • Electronic Toolkit Corporate Voices Logo

  6. Workplace FlexibilityBackground • Workplace Flexibility is a “business imperative” (Ellen Galinsky, Families & Work Inst. ) • National Study of the Changing Workforce (NSCW) • Largest, most comprehensive, on-going study of the U.S. workforce and their lives on and off the job • Builds on DOL’s 1977 Quality of Employment Survey (QES) • Conducted by Families & Work Institute (1992, 1997, 2002 & 2008) • Sample comprises 2,769 wage & salaried employees • 2008 response rate was 54.6%; Completion rate was 99.0% • Sample error is +/- 1%

  7. Demographics of U.S. Workforce (1977-2008) • More employees age 40+ – up from 39% in 1977 to 68% in 2008 • More people of color – up from 12% in 1977 to 21% in 2008; among employees under age 29, percentage of people of color increased from 13% in 1977 to 39% in 2008 • More dual-earner couples – up from 66% in 1977 to 79% in 2008 • Almost equal numbers of women as men

  8. Employee Elder Care Statistics • Currently, nearly 1 in 5 employees provides care for a relative or in-law over age 65 (17%) • Within past 5 years, 42% of employees provided care • In next 5 years, 1 in 2 employees expects to provide care (49%)

  9. An Effective WorkplaceCan Make a Difference • Flexibility – one component • Job Challenges & Learning • Autonomy • Work-Life Fit • Supervisor Task Support • Climate of Respect & Trust • Economic Security

  10. Economic Security & Work-Life Fit Most Important Health & Wellbeing OutcomesEffective workplace dimensions significantly predicting health outcomes rank ordered by relative importance Source: FWI 2008 NSCW: (N=2,471 to 2,769).

  11. Implications of WF for People with Complex Situations • Reasonable Accommodations (RA) can be seen as “unfair” by nondisabled workers(Schur et al., 2005) • RA can help create WF • WF can increase the recruitment, retention & promotion of people with disabilities (Shartz et al., 2006) • WF does not always = RA & vice versa • WF often more available to white-collar workers, but much research on how WF scheduling can help hourly workers

  12. ODEP’s Workplace Flexibility/ Customized Employment (CE) Resources • Universal Design approach to employment • Innovative, evidence-based Workplace Flexibility policy and practice—CE • CE expands traditional WF around time and place to include flexibility around job tasks • CE offers a three-dimensional WF strategy of time, place, and tasks www.dol.gov/odep/FWA-CE/

  13. Questions? Thank You!

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