Welcome to the first quarterly Great Ideas @ Work newsletter.
We hope you’ll enjoy this easy way to stay-up-to date on all things family-friendly at work. Please share widely with your colleagues, friends, and anyone else interested in effective, flexible workplaces.
Here’s what you’ll discover in the inaugural Winter 2014 edition of the Great Ideas @ Work newsletter:
- Awesome Articles | Oregon’s Climax Parts & Equity in Flexibility Access
- Sloan Award | 2014 Application Opens 1/21
- Upcoming Events | Webinar on January 23rd
- Spotlight on Oregon Employers | CEA & FMYI
- Ask Family Forward | What do I need to know about Portland’s new Protected Sick Time Law?
- We’re Linked In | Join our group for conversation with other flexible employers
1 | Awesome Articles: Flex time for all & How to lead flex teams
Every day, we come across new articles about flexibility and family-friendly policies at work. Some are more valuable than others, so we’ve picked out a couple that we think are most useful.
- Flex Time for Welders and Clerks, Too: Last fall, Family Forward hosted a workshop on creating a flexible workplace, which included a panel of stellar local employers. This article in The Oregonian highlights how flexibility can work in unexpected places.
- Helping Managers and Employees Address Equity in a Flexible Working Environment: Ever struggle with that issue of equity? As in, if I let one worker have a flexible schedule, do I have to let every worker do the same thing? This article form The Huffington Post offers some helpful ways of changing how you think about these questions.
2 | 2014 Sloan Award: Application Opens January 21st!
Do you work for, own or manage a flexible workplace in Oregon? We’re asking because every year we recognize Oregon’s flexible workplaces — and we need your help to find them!
We know there are Oregon employers thinking outside the box and working hard to offer flexible workplaces that really work for their employees. We also know that employers benefit, too, when employees have the time to care for their families and do their work. That is why we’re so pleased to bring the Sloan Awards for Excellence in Workplace Effectiveness and Flexibility to Oregon again this year.
Applications for the 2014 award open on January 21st.
What is the Alfred P. Sloan Award for Excellence in Workplace Flexibility? Since 2005, this prestigious national award has been recognizing employers across the country who have successfully integrated flexible policies and practices to meet both business and employee goals.
Who can apply? Any employer with 10 or more employees can apply, including businesses, non-profits, government agencies, schools and universities. Applicants and winners from previous years are encouraged to apply again!
How to apply: Simply complete an online survey about their workplace in two stages – the 1st for employers and the 2nd for employees. The deadline for round 1 is April 11th. For more information about the award, visit the award web site or email me at sharon@familyforwardoregon.org.
Spread the word! We hope you will help us find some great applicants in Oregon this year to be recognized as part of the growing group of family-friendly, flexible, and forward-thinking employers in Oregon.
3| Upcoming Events: Webinar on Leading Flexible Teams
Our friends at Boston College Center for Work and Family are hosting a webinar on leading flexible teams. It’s a good opportunity to learn about their research on the impact of targeted manager training and support in leading to significant changes in manager attitudes about flexible work. A summary report will be released in conjunction with the webinar, and all registrants will receive a copy of the report.
- What: Webinar: National Workplace Flexibility Study Reveals Best Practices for Managers Leading Flexible Teams
- When: Thursday, January 23, 2014 10am-11am PST, followed by questions and discussion until 11:30
- Who should attend: Human resource professionals, organizational leaders, managers, training professionals, and others interested in employee engagement and workplace flexibility.
Attend this webinar to:
- Understand the process used in the NWFS to address manager concerns.
- Learn about significant shifts in manager attitudes, employee experience, and overall organizational culture.
- Discover the impact of utilizing a flex team blueprint.
- Hear managers’ unedited views about their experiences and lessons learned.
- Speak with the research team about the best practices that managers shared after going through the study process.
For more information and to register, click here. We’ll be there! Hope you will, too.
4 | Spotlight on Oregon Changemakers: FMYI & Cascade Employer Association
Changemakers are employers who are changing the way work works so that it works better — for their employees and their families, for their business, and for our economy. Today, we are featuring two outstanding local leaders who “get” that flexible work is the future of work. We invite you to learn from them!
FMYI | Spotlight on Flexibility
FMYI (For My Innovation) is a small software company that creates a private online social networking tool to facilitate collaborative work. They have 10 employees, 6 of whom live and work outside of Oregon.
CASCADE EMPLOYERS ASSOCIATION | Spotlight on Flexibility
Cascade Employers Association is a membership-based association that provides resources and consulting on human resources issues. Based in Salem, Cascade Employers Association has 16 employees and over 400 members. They have an additional office in Portland and employees that live and work in other cities as well.
5 | ASK FAMILY FORWARD: Protected Sick Time in Portland
Ask Family Forward is a space where Family Forward will provide thoughtful, researched answers to some of your most pressing questions about workplace flexibility. This edition’s topic is Portland’s new protected sick time law. If you have a question you would like us to address in a future newsletter, please email your question to Sharon at Sharon@familyforwardoregon.org.
Now, for our current topic….
Have you heard about Portland’s new Protected Sick Time Law? It went into effect on January 1st. As of that day, 250,000 people working in Portland who never had any protected sick time before began accruing sick time that they can use to care for their own or a family member’s health or in cases of domestic violence.
Where to Learn More
The City of Portland has a great website all about the new law that explains how it works, whom it affects, and answers many Frequently Asked Questions
You can check out the city’s web site here: http://www.portlandoregon.gov/sicktime
Why is this Such Great News? Making it possible for all working people in Portland to stay home from work to care for their own or a loved one’s health is a BIG step forward for our economy and the employers and workers who make it go. Without protected sick time, workers are forced to choose between their income and their health – and when they work sick, we all suffer. Protected sick time enables working parents to care for sick children at home instead of sending them to school, it enables workers to recover at home or see a doctor when needed instead of infecting co-workers and extending illnesses unnecessarily, and it means diners and shoppers interact with healthy servers, not sick ones.
6 | Join Us on Linked In
Family Forward is on Linked In, and our group is a great place to foster conversation with each other about flexibility. Please join our group! We’re right here.
See you there!
[Note: This content was created by Family Forward Education Fund.]