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"Being a flexible employer tends to pay off for the business." Employer-based survey results, actual practices and several new bills support this notion advocated by Ellen Galinsky, president of the Families and Work Institute.

Survey Results

A survey of 400 employers conducted by the Families and Work Institute in New York found:

* 81 percent of employers have kept their existing work/life programs such as reduced hours, phased retirement, compressed work weeks and telecommuting

* 94 percent of employers have added to their existing work/life programs, while 6 percent have eliminated their work/life arrangements

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In the survey, employers with more than 1,000 employees (16.5 percent of total employers) have increased their work/life programs by 25 percent and 37 percent have used flexible work/life arrangement to reduce layoffs. This occurs even though 66 percent of these employers report declining revenue over the past year and 64 percent of employers who have cut costs have reduced their work force.

Legislation

According to the Families and Work Institute, Rep. Carolyn Maloney, D-N.Y., and chair of the Joint Economic Committee, has introduced two pieces of relevant legislation:

* The first, the Working Families Flexibility Act, would require employers to meet with and consider proposals by any employees seeking flexible work/life arrangements such as adjustments in the number of hours or days worked or location of employment. There is no requirement, however, that such a request be granted.

* The second would grant federal employees up to four weeks of paid leave when they become parents. This bill already passed the House 258-154 on June 4.

Another piece of legislation currently on Capitol Hill would grant employees up to seven paid sick days annually. Rep. Rosa DeLauro, D-Conn., who authored the bill, reported that nearly half of the private-sector companies lacked paid sick days. Rep. Lynn Woolsey, D-Calif., said that "only 8 percent of workers have paid family and medical leave."

Actual Practices

Galinsky says, "A number of employers have recognized that if they provide flexibility, they can save jobs." The DiversityInc Top 50 Companies for Diversity® are industry leaders in providing progressive work/life benefits. Consider:

* 100 percent of DiversityInc Top 50 companies offer telecommuting, flexible hours and domestic-partner healthcare benefits for same-sex partners

* More than 80 percent of DiversityInc Top 50 companies offer adoption assistance, job sharing, paternity leave and dependent-care benefits such as childcare and eldercare

* More than half of all DiversityInc Top 50 companies offer other work/life benefits such as alternative career tracks for parents or others with long-term family-care issues, retirement transition such as part-time or virtual work, and paid time for volunteering/community outreach

For more from the Families and Work Institute, click here.

For more statistics on the DiversityInc Top 50, e-mail benchmarking@DiversityInc.com.

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