"What About the Men? They Need Life Outside of Work, Too"
When New York Mets second baseman Daniel Murphy missed the season's first two games for the birth of his first child, he and his wife faced something they likely weren't expecting: A media firestorm that pitted men's work responsibilities against their family lives. The stigma some men face in working flexibly to juggle personal and professional goals suddenly stepped right up to the plate.
5 Simple Office Policies That Make Danish Workers Way More Happy Than Americans
According to most studies, the happiest employees in the world are in Denmark. The U.S.? Not so much. Here's just one data point: a recent Gallup poll found that 18% of American workers are actively disengaged. The same number for Danish workers is only 10%. But why are Danish workers
so happy compared to their American counterparts? Here are five fundamental differences.
Out of hours working banned by German labour ministry
Germany's employment ministry has banned its managers from calling or emailing staff out of hours except in emergencies, under new guidelines intended to prevent employees from burning out. The guidelines state that ministry staff should not be penalized for switching off their mobiles or failing to pick up messages out of hours. See also: In France, a Move to Limit Off-the-Clock Work Emails
National Study of Employers Takes Pulse of U.S. Workplaces
The 2014 National Study of Employers (NSE), which looks at changes in the workplace since 2008, found that flexibility over when and where full-time employees work is on the rise. This includes options such as working remotely occasionally (telecommuting), which saw an increase to 67 percent from 50 percent in 2008, and control over overtime, up to 45 percent from 27 percent. More on the new report from FWI.
The View From Behind the Workplace Flexibility Curve If you think the purpose of an interview is to determine whether a candidate is right for your company's open position, know that professionals are sizing up your business for just the same reasons. As more professionals are growing accustomed to working when and where they are at their most productive, the reality is that if they can't find flexibility in a role with your business, they'll find it with another one - or start their own. Paid Sick Days Access in the United States: Differences by Race/Ethnicity, Occupation, Earnings, and Work Schedule Paid sick days bring substantial benefits to employers, workers, families, and communities. The economic and public health benefits of paid sick leave coverage include safer work environments; improved work life balance, reduced spread of contagion; and reduced health care costs. Access to this important benefit, however, is still too rare, and is unequally distributed across the U.S. population, with differences by race and ethnicity, occupation, earnings levels, and work schedules. Students' Tops Goals Are Work-Life Balance, Security Global employer brand research firm Universum released its 2014 rankings of the employers students most want to work for. Based on a survey of more than 46,000 undergraduate students, the rankings reveal which employers are most attractive to today's students and why. Students' top career goals are returning to pre-recession levels. As in recent years, students' top career goal this year is to have work-life balance, followed by job security and being dedicated to a cause. How Your Office Is Harming Your Health Many of us spend a large chunk of our waking lives at work, but rarely do we give much thought to how our on-the-clock environment might be affecting how we feel around the clock. Working in offices could be making us feel dissatisfied. Open office plans (and cubicles, to a certain extent) may be the worst offenders when it comes to harming employee wellness and productivity. To Reduce Inequality, Start With Families Since President Obama declared in his State of the Union address that fighting inequality was the "defining project of our generation," Democrats and Republicans alike have seized upon the theme to connect with voters. A relatively straightforward and simple way out of our current dead end has been hiding in plain sight. President Obama alluded to it in the State of the Union when he issued the call "to do away with workplace policies that belong in a 'Mad Men' episode." How Wall Street's Life-Ruining Work Habits Hurt All Of Us You might feel no sympathy for young bankers and the punishing hours they work. But you might want to pay attention, because their bad work habits could be contagious. When bankers leave Wall Street mid-career for new gigs in consulting, media or other industries, they often take their taxing work practices with them, influencing their new colleagues, according to a study due to be published in the forthcoming summer issue of the journal The Sociological Quarterly. The Flexibility Bias A new study shows workplace bias against those who use flexible-work arrangements -- often for child-care needs -- may increase employee dissatisfaction even among those who don't have children. Flexibility stigma, the stigma attached to professional workers who have responsibilities at home that lead them to work flexible hours, is rampant in corporate America. Even when those flexible hours are provided through policy and seemingly supported in the workplace, stigma exists. 5 Reasons Why Paternity Leave Is Crucial for Fathers and Families When New York Mets second baseman Daniel Murphy took a two-game paternity leave recently to spend time with his newborn son, he inadvertently sparked a national debate. While maternity leave for new moms is often considered a given, men like Boomer Esiason aren't convinced that dads deserve to take time off after the birth of a child too. Simulating Silicon Valley Companies can learn from the tech hub's playbook by focusing on speed and risk-taking. Increasingly, the ideal Silicon Valley employee is the ideal employee anywhere as the successful use of digital technologies becomes a necessity in every industry, not just those with the focus of consumer technology. |