To meet family demands companies must consider the bottom line and endorse these policies for workers and families. The overall benefits will out weigh any skeptical reasoning and the U. S. companies will have a willing ethical workplace for generations to come.
State legislature supports the flexible work schedule to extremely help with traffic congestion; decrease fuel consumption, flexibility for employees gives more time with their families, increases morale, and improves the working environment. Change takes time to reprogram minds set on a 9 to 5 work day for some the choice is much needed to make individuals succeed in their careers as well as their family life. Flexible work schedules will increase employee morale, engagement, and commitment to the organization.
Other advantages are reduced turnover, reduced absenteeism and tardiness, reduced consumption of employee commuting time and fuel costs, traffic and the stresses of commuting during rush hours, and a positive feeling of personal control over schedule and work environment. The obvious benefit to an employer is the ability to accommodate employees who have trouble balancing their jobs and their families. Flexible Work Arrangements 3 The demand for flexible work schedules have increased expectations to manage work, families and to be competitive in the global market, employers must be flexible to allow control of their work schedule.
Flexible work hours is an alternative work schedule that allows a fulltime employee to eliminate at least one work day every two weeks by working longer hours during the remaining days. The two most popular flexible work schedules are working four 10 hour days and the fifth day off or 80 hours in nine days with the tenth day off. Other schedules include seven days in two weeks and three days a week (Flexible Work Hours Policy Guidelines, 2007).
Flexible work schedule is a policy that a company has endorsed so the employee can turn to when something happens in life and the employee needs to change their schedule without quitting or being fired. Employees are considered the backbone of a company and the employees should have the right to pick a schedule that coincides with their lives. The review of statutory employment rights in 21 high-income countries including the United States which shows little improvement for workers. Although there has been progress United States sill lacks the flexibility in the work place.
Of 21 countries reviewed, the report found that 17 countries have statutes that allow parents to move to part-time work or otherwise adjust their working hours; 12 have statutes to help workers adjust work hours for training and education; 11 allow reduced hours with partial pension prior to full retirement; 5 allow working time adjustments for those with family care-giving responsibilities for adults; and 5 countries give everyone the right to alternative work arrangements (Crum 2008). Most of these countries are encouraging regulations for family first, old age and lifelong learning. Flexible Work Arrangements 4
In the past 30 years in the U. S. medium age of workers has increased from about 35 years to 41 years as the rate of growth in the labor force has declined (from a rate of 2. 6 percent in the 1970s to the current rate of 1 percent)( Hardy, 2008). The 21 countries surveyed were Australia, Austria, Belgium, Canada, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, United Kingdom, and the United States (Crum 2008). Women in the U. S. workforce make up almost fifty percent today with dependent children then they were in the 1970s.
In the past few years, Democratic presidential nominee contenders Barack Obama and Hillary Rodham Clinton have voiced their support for legislation allowing flexible work hours. Both Republicans and Democrats have introduced bills on the issue. In December 2008, Sen. Edward Kennedy, D-Massachusetts, and Rep. Carolyn Maloney, D-New York, introduced the Working Family Flexibility Act, which would grant employees “the right to request” reduced hours or an alternate work schedule (Marquez 2008). Flexible Work Arrangements 6
The Family Flexibility Act bill passes employers will be able to discuss procedures to address employee issues of flexibility. The legislation is in the hands of our grateful hardworking Senators who represent the United States workers. This bill was Introduced in House on March 3, 2009 in the Library of Congress listed, Working Families Flexibility Act H. R. 1274 (Thomas 2009). The Working Families Flexibility Act gives employees the right to request flexible work options. Senator Kennedy said, “Our working families deserve a 21st century answer for these 21st century job challenges.
Greater flexibility is an essential part of the response. More than 80% of workers would like more flexibility in their jobs (Maloney 2007). Under this legislation: -An employee may request to modify his or her hours, schedule, or work location. -Employees and employers will engage in an interactive process to discuss the employee’s needs and how to address them with no or minimal disruption to the employer’s business. -Employers who deny a request must explain the grounds for the denial. -Employees who make requests are protected from retaliation.
Small businesses are exempt from the law. The Department of Labor will develop regulations to smoothly administer the process, while ensuring the protection of employees’ legal rights (Maloney 2007). Flexible Work Arrangements 7 To help foster flexible workplaces within his own Administration, the President signed the Telework Enhancement Act in December of 2010. The law requires federal agencies to take a number of steps to promote the use of telework, which has become an integral part of achieving workplace flexibility, by allowing individuals to spend part of their week working from home (Jarret 2010).
President Obama, on the creation of the White House Council on Women and Girls “Issues like equal pay, family leave, child care and others are not just women’s issues; they are family issues and economic issues. Our progress in these areas is an important measure of whether we are truly fulfilling the promise of our democracy for all our people” (Jarret 2010). Flexible Work Arrangements 8 Change takes time to reprogram minds set on a 9 to 5 work day for some the choice is much needed to make individuals succeed in their careers as well as their family life.
Business Question
Using Excel or StatTools, complete the following:
You have been assigned to determine whether more people prefer Coke or Pepsi. Assume that roughly half the population prefers Coke and half prefers Pepsi. How large a sample do you need to take to ensure that you can estimate, with 90% confidence, the proportion of people preferring Coke to within 5% of the actual value? Show all of your work.