Susan's Blog Index  
(Occasional comments by Susan Seitel) 

Work-Life Champions Do Right Now?

Below are links to the blogs that appeared from 2010 back to 2008. Click on the headline below and it will take you to that month's blogs.

February 2010

The evidence keeps coming!

January 2010

Unlimited paid leave crazy or good for business?

December 2009

A different approach to employee satisfaction

October-November 2009

Try "Flexibility Labs" for managers

September 2009

A few work-life trends

August 2009

"America's Affordable Health Choices Act of 2009" in bullets.

Here are a few of the main points of HR 3200, the health care reform bill that just passed the Committee on Energy and Commerce by a slim 31-28 margin, and that your Representatives will be trying to sell you this month.

July 2009

No such thing as work-life balance?

Jack Welch set off a firestorm recently . . . we’re trying to figure out what it was about that speech that came as a surprise. We know of no one who is unaware that choices have to be made and that they have consequences.

June 2009

Work-Life Values of Four Generations
A Guest blog by Virginia Byrd

As a professional career counselor, I meet with members of three or four generations on a regular basis. Unlike twenty years ago, today’s clients may be teens or they may be the grandparents of teens.

May 2009 

An AP news story last week said many companies have dropped employee surveys that let workers express their thoughts or just vent about their frequently downsized workplaces. 

April 2009

Every once in a while we get a natural disaster – blizzards, floods, earthquakes – or even a threat of a pandemic. And telework, the option that allows employees to work from home occasionally, or a remote location close to home, gets a sudden and strong push.

March 2009

Don’t give up on teleworking

Our observation: While top management may not be saying it out loud, the word is out. If you don’t want to be out of a job, don’t be out of sight. 

Focus on the workforce you have

March 9, 2009

No argument. What we're experiencing right now is making it tougher than ever to be a work-life champion (and it was never particularly easy). But believe it or not, there are a few work-life-type supports for which we believe the timing may be exactly right.  

February 2009 

February 24, 2009

Making life more livable for the survivors.

I've just returned to my day job after a soul-stirring event this morning produced by a wonderful committee I've had the privilege of leading for the past few months. More than 200 people came to a St. Paul hotel to have breakfast together and hear about workplace flexibility and When Work Works, the national project to help employers be more flexible and supportive.

February 13, 2009

Looking for ways to avoid layoffs? Your state may offer one.

Minnesota, New York, Washington, Connecticut and 13 other states offer a program that’s helping employers avoid layoffs. It’s an alternative called the Shared Work Program. We recently wrote about it in the Work-Life Newsbrief. Here's more.

February 10, 2009

Leave unemployment insurance improvement in the stimulus bill

In both the House and Senate versions of the stimulus package there's a piece that modernizes the way the unemployed get compensated. Here's hoping that piece doesn't get cut in negotiations before it becomes law.

February 3, 2009

A guest blog by Ellen Galinsky

I was at the same time cheered and chagrined to read an article in the New York Times Sports Section last weekend (January 24) about WNBA star Candace Parker’s effort to balance career and family. 

January 2009 

January 22, 2009

The guy gets it about work-life

I cannot remember ever feeling this way about a new administration. Maybe John F. Kennedy, but somehow even that was not this good, or maybe I was too young to really appreciate it.

January 6, 2009

A good time to try an old idea

Back in 1990 – an astounding 19 years ago – a group of researchers began a project they thought might forever change the way work was done. It started in London with the work of Rhona and Robert Rapoport, consultants to the Ford Foundation worldwide.

December 2008

December 20th, 2008

Another controversial rule

The Bush Administration, in one of those last minute controversial acts, has issued a regulation that protects health care workers who refuse to provide or participate in providing services that they believe violate their personal, moral or religious belief.

December 9, 2008

What's new in the world of health care?

Here are a few facts we picked up this month from a variety of sources while choosing articles to digest for the Newsbrief.

December 2, 2008

A guest blog from Carol Kinsey Goman

I was still in high school when my father was fired from the San Francisco Examiner. My dad loved the newspaper business, and he especially enjoyed his job, working with the newsboys who (then) sold papers on street corners. I knew he'd be devastated by the loss.

November 2008

November 25th

Job hunting? This may be the right time to try the feds

The federal workforce is about to be hit by an unprecedented "retirement tsunami," says Linda Springer, the feds top personnel manager. During the next ten years, about 60% of federal employees, including 90% of senior managers, will be eligible to retire.  

Diversity pays off, says a study, but it's not about compliance

November 15, 2008

We know there are a lot of reasons why diversity in a workforce is good, and we have long suspected that a workforce that looks like its customers is good for business.

Working families won a victory in the election (and we don't mean the presidency)

November 5, 2008

Working families won a victory in yesterday's election, and I'm not talking about the presidency. Milwaukee's voters overwhelmingly approved a binding referendum that calls for private employers in the city to provide paid sick leave for all their workers, a measure strongly opposed by business leaders and the city's Mayor.

November 4, 2008

A perfect country, with one exception

It occurred to me today, as I was standing in line waiting to vote, that in nearly every respect this is a wonderful country in which to live – a perfect country – with just one exception. The exception is that we have no national commitment to our future. Very strange. We're leaving that to the generosity of employers and the luck of the draw.

September 2008

September 27, 2008

Optimism is valuable in times of stress

Who isn't nervous these days? There's a lot to be concerned about, from the country's (and the world's) economy to housing markets, from climate change to job change. Staying positive isn't easy. But new research from Canada confirms that optimism is a valuable resource in times of stress.

September 19, 2008

The largest-ever study of children is underway

You may think only of long winters when you think about Minnesota, but we here in the Twin Cities are extremely lucky for many reasons (I happen to think the weather is one of them!) For those of us in the work-life field, a definite reason is what we call the Think Tank – a network of a variety of people, most representing employers, all there because of their interest in work-life.

September 27, 2008

Optimism is valuable in times of stress

Who isn't nervous these days? There's a lot to be concerned about, from the country's (and the world's) economy to housing markets, from climate change to job change. Staying positive isn't easy. But new research from Canada confirms that optimism is a valuable resource in times of stress.

September 11, 2008

It might make them more money - for a while

(This blog post is written by Anne Nolan.)

We saw this grim story on one of our e-mail lists yesterday - a Wall Street Journal piece on retailers automating workers' scheduling based on how much they sell per hour.

September 6, 2008

One more thing on the subject of Sarah Palin . . .

I loved this quote from Dr. Diane Halpern, director of the Berger Institute for Work, Family and Children at Claremont McKenna College.

"Working mothers often feel like Dr. Doolittle's mythical animal the Push-Me Pull-Me, and when people are pulled in two directions, career progress can come to a standstill.

September 5, 2008

Sarah Palin

Amazing how easy it is to judge others' responses to family and work-life issues. Among the many reactions to Sarah Palin and her life, this one (from a woman in the UK, yet) set my teeth on edge:

August 2008

August 30, 2008

For Labor Day, a lot of stressed workers

A lot of us are a little stressed as summer comes to an end. It's kind of a seasonal thing - that feeling that now it's September and you really have to get your act together. It's usually temporary and we get over it once we get into action.

August 19, 2008

A little left-over news

We only have so much room in the Newsbrief each month, and there's so much news to digest that it's always a tough choice. Our litmus test is always "could this news make a difference for anyone?" We're about ready to go to press with the September issue, and this month in particular there was a ton of news left over.

August 11, 2008

Are they making this up or what?

Are you ready to think a thought and have your computer get it? The August 11 issue of Business Week has a column by Cliff Edwards, their tech blogger, about a new startup company called Emotiv Systems that has spent the last five years researching the possibility of a mind-reading headset.

August 8, 2008

If we think we've got it bad . . .

An article by Financial Times columnist Clive Crook is headed, Only luck can save America's economy, and we've heard a few people compare today's recessionary economic times to the Great Depression.

July 2008

July 31, 2008

More about motivation

Anyone out there who doesn't want to motivate their staff? I doubt that; we know how important that is, especially when productivity is so critical. We know a lot about engagement, but researchers Paul R. Lawrence and Nitin Nohria, who have been looking at the subject since maybe 1987 or earlier, have just completed their latest effort.

July 28, 2008

A rare moment – when you know you've made a difference

Our August Newsbrief is in the mail, and on the back page this month our Employees' Corner reminds parents that while 90% of 9-year-olds get two hours of exercise most days, fewer than 3% of 15-year-olds do.

July 17, 2008

Gas prices spawn action nationwide

Not a day has gone by in the past couple of weeks without another state, local government or municipality announcing action that will change the way employees work, perhaps forever. It will certainly ease congestion and save money on gas. Bob Fortier's Innovisions (http://www.ivc.ca/) lists some U.S. state efforts, and here are a few more recent ones.

July 16, 2008

Musings about baseball

Last night was the All Star game. We watched as one player after another, Hispanic, Asian, black, white and a mixture, won the cheers of the crowd and hugs from their teammates. There was Manny Ramirez with his amazing dreadlocks, handsome Derek Jeter, half black, half white, Ichiro and Kosuke Fukudome. It occurred to me that it may be only in sports that what really counts is not what you look like or where you came from, but only what you produce.

July 11, 2008

Work-life balance isn't always easy

We're hooked on Hopkins. It's a new series on ABC about residents and physicians at Johns Hopkins Hospital trying to lead normal, balanced lives, which is, of course, impossible. It's real life, but it comes off a little like soap opera.

Paid sick leave

July 7, 2008

With thanks to Shari Roan of the L.A. Times, here's a look at what's going on around the country in the way of paid sick time and proposals for change. Currently, California workers are entitled to partial pay for a long absence but may lack full pay for short absences.

This interview should be fun

July 1, 2008

We heard from Minnesota Public Radio that tomorrow's Midmorning interview program will feature guests Jessica DeGroot and Francine Deutsch on the topic of how moms and dads share their parenting and household duties. This should be fun.

A summary of policies

June 24, 2008

Four experts in work-life policies have created what they call "The Mobility Agenda: Work-Life Policies for the Twenty-First Century Economy." Among other things, the four, Heather Boushey, Layla Moughari, Sarah Sattelmeyer and Margy Waller, have compared existing public work-life policies in the U.S., and it was a good reminder for us. In case you'd like a summary, here's what they report regarding state and city policies. 

The immigration mess

June 19, 2008

Last year, President Bush called on Congress to pass comprehensive immigration reform. We thought his plan was comprehensive and fair, but Congress declined. Since then, the country has become a hodge-podge, with states doing their own thing.

Sun offers some nuts and bolts measurements

June 10, 2008

Sun’s iWork (now Open Work) program is about 12 years old now, and we've been following it for about seven of those years. In 2006 we wrote that the program, which allows employees to work from anywhere in the world, gives them great flexibility in getting talent wherever they can get it, and it doesn’t really matter if somebody’s in Colorado or England or Germany.

June 3, 2008

Corporate America, it's time to go green

Who would have thought the word "greening" would ever be a word, much less a verb, an adverb, an adjective, a noun, part of a title of companies and a new way of life.

May 2008

May 29, 2008

News that will never make the Newsbrief

Because I write the Work-Life Newsbrief, I read about 1,000 news stories a week, searching for news that will make a difference for those who interact with workers in their organization. Every once in a while I come up with stories that are so weird that they beg to be shared. Yesterday brought two of those stories – both, in a way, about the relationship between employers and employees.  

The UK's "request flexibility law"

Coincidentally, barely 10 days after we wrote the blog below, this article from Personnel Today appeared in our mail box.

"Flexible working arrangements are proving hard to secure despite new laws - with seven in 10 employers admitting they rarely accept requests to work from home. The Labour Market Outlook survey of 735 UK employers, by the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD) with accounting firm KPMG, found that 69% 'never or occasionally' grant homeworking wishes.

May 23, 2008

Wachovia's three-year leave plan 

Several publications, including Workforce Management Online, have written about Wachovia Bank’s new three-year leave plan. The new initiative allows employees to take an unpaid leave of absence for up to three years to care for loved ones.

May 15, 2008

Much ado about nothing

Gordon Brown, the UK's Prime Minister, has added another teeny tiny baby step to the country's work-life efforts. Now mothers or fathers of children as old as 16 will have the right to request time off work to look after their children.

May 10, 2008

Some facts about the American family

The Council on Contemporary Families has prepared this list of interesting facts to show what's happening to the American family. We have, they observe, taken a "long leap" into an unanticipated world.

May 6, 2008

Working with far-flung employees

An article this morning in the Wall Street Journal is about the joys and frustrations of remote management, an experience more of us are having as our employees become more mobile. Not many managers come prepared to manage a virtual team, and they may have to get up to speed on their own, finding tips where they can. T

May 2, 2008

A little enlightenment about the health care debate

I'm sure you too have been watching closely as the three candidates exchange views on how health care should be handled in the coming years. A Wall Street Journal article last week by David Wessel shed some welcome light on the differences, the similarities, and what has a chance of working. Read the article if you have a minute -- if not, here's a little of what it said.

April,  2008

April 28, 2008

Just how tough can you be about smoking?

Is it your business what your employees do when they're on their own time? A recent New York Times column dealt with the question of whether employers have a right to/should/can punish workers who smoke when they're not working.

April 21, 2008

A search for creativity

A recent Conference Board poll asked employers and school superintendents about creativity, how they’re treating it and what they think about it. The result was pretty interesting. The great majority of employers (97%) said creativity is of increasing importance; 72% said hiring creative people is a primary concern, and 85% of those say they can’t find enough creative applicants. Sounds like a fairly serious problem. 

April 14, 2008

Work-life in a recession

Anyone trying to forecast the immediate future of work-life efforts has to be in deep confusion. The unemployment rate isn't that bad at 5.1%, but the jobless rate has soared, and employers reduced their payrolls by 80,000 in March.

April 7, 2008

Paid leave progresses

The New Jersey Senate gave final approval to legislation Monday to allow workers to take up to six weeks of paid time off to care for a sick family member or new baby, positioning New Jersey to become the third state to enact a paid family leave program. The Governor has said he will sign it.

Family Responsibilities Discrimination

We're considering developing an e-training that would help employers – their HR people, managers and supervisors – learn about family responsibilities discrimination, and by learning, protect themselves from lawsuits.

April 2, 2008

Two flexibility reports offer suggestions, tips and best practices

Our cup runneth over. Two wonderful reports have arrived in the same week, one from the Boston College Center on Work & Family, the other from the Families & Work Institute/Sloan Foundation "When Work Works" project.

March, 2008

March 31, 2008

Pregnancy bias

For me, there's only one drawback to a restful week's vacation in the sun; that's the stack of unread newspapers waiting my return. The upside is that reading a week's news in one sitting gives you a unique perspective on what's important.

March 20, 2008

What keeps diversity training from working?

An interesting new study by Boston-based consulting firm Novations Group has found the training often gets a little spoiled, and they've identified some of the reasons. First and foremost, faulty delivery is the culprit.

March 17, 2008

The saga of paid leave in New Jersey goes on.

The Senate has postponed their vote because of a procedural issue. But if you're lucky enough to work for a Fortune 100 company you probably already have paid family leave.

March 14, 2008

Wondering what's going on with paid leave in New Jersey?

It seems like they've been battling forever, but it's finally down to the last vote. Yesterday the bill moved through its second-to-last hurdle, passing the Assembly despite strong objections from Republicans; the vote was 46 to 30.

March 10, 2008

Forgive me for tooting our own horn . . .

. . . but I couldn't help sharing this wonderful letter from Patricia Herlihy, veteran work-life expert, researcher and generally valuable contributor to the field.

March 7, 2008

A conference that always gets us thinking

This week the Families and Work Institute/Conference Board held their work-life conference in Atlanta. It's a gathering that never fails to stimulate a different level of thinking about work-life, and this year was no exception.

March 4, 2008

The worst in the world

It may come as no surprise, but Americans have the worst vacation privileges in the world. Expedia.com says we're getting a tiny bit better – an average 14 vacation days in 2007 vs. 12 in 2005 – but more than a third won't even use them all. They left an average of three of those days on the table last year.

March 3, 2008

A real American hero

We were lucky enough to catch 60 Minutes last Sunday, and an amazing segment about a real American hero. His name is Stan Brock. He was once an adventurer who tackled wild animals and was profiled on Wild Kingdom. Now he's tackling an equally tough issue.

March 1, 2008

The new Telework Improvements Act

It seems that no matter how beneficial a law would be for all concerned, there's always a naysayer. This time it's Texas Congressional Republican Kenny Marchant, who worries that the new Telework Improvements Act could be too much for small agencies like the 62-employee Institute of Museum and Library Services.

February, 2008

February 29, 2008

HR 4106

Congress is currently working on the Telework Improvements Act, a new set of requirements that would increase the number of government employees who telecommute. Under this bill, HR 4106, all agencies would have to allow eligible employees to work at home or at a telework center for at least 20% of their two-week pay period.

February 27, 2008

Paid leave in New Jersey

New Jersey is getting closer to passing a paid family leave law. An article in NJBiz today says it’s picking up serious momentum and could get final approval from the Legislature by the end of March.

February 25, 2008

Taking on Congress

Corporate Voices for Working Families and Working Mother Media have taken on Congress, getting their attention in the way that works best – rewarding them with publicity for doing the right thing. Here's the latest:

February 24, 2008

New Jersey considers paid leave

This week, New Jersey will consider becoming the third state in the U.S. to allow workers paid time off to care for a new baby or sick family member. (Washington joined California in passing legislation that's supposed to take effect in October, 2009, but so far they haven't figured out how to pay for it, and have delayed their decision.)

February 22, 2008

Our job is not done

In case we work-life professionals thought our job was done, how about this Associated Press story? Governor to end flexible work hours for Ohio workers
 

February 20, 2008

Maybe the DOL got it right.

It seems as if nobody is really satisfied with the DOL's suggested revisions to the FMLA and maybe that means they're just about right.

February 16, 2008

The dangers of stress

A cluster of studies are pointing out the risks of stress, which too few employers seem to be addressing. Stress, depression and anxiety double the risk of a repeat heart attack in those who have had a coronary (26% chance of a repeat incident vs. 13% in the general community) says a McGill/University of Montreal study).

February 9, 2008

A viable health plan

There's a plan in Congress for health care reform that makes sense. Sponsored by Ron Wyden, D-Ore., and in the House by Brian Baird, D-Wash, it looks like it would provide health coverage for all Americans except those covered under Medicare or through the military.

February 5, 2008

The Center for Low and Social Policy  

says the message of the $3.1 trillion budget released by the Bush Administration today is simple and stark: children in low income families don't matter. "The President's budget cuts 200,000 children from child care assistance programs in two years," says the CLASP release this morning,

January 2008

January 29, 2008

A depressing look at health care

We finally saw Sicko, Michael Moore's depressingly clear picture of health care in the U.S. The movie shows us a system that does not work (ours) and several that do, worldwide. And if it doesn't push health care closer to the top of your list of priorities, read this Washington Post article from last Sunday.