Another “Job Killer” Lie Exposed

From the Huffington Post, By Donald Cohen

You may think it’s a way to help your spouse or aging parent recover from a devastating illness, but to the National Federation of Independent Business (NFIB) California’s Paid Family Leave (PFL) law, enacted in 2002, is a “job killer” that costs employers billions of dollars and drives jobs out the state. Allen Zaremberg, president of the California Chamber of Commerce, echoed that view, calling the law “one of the worst.”

But a new comprehensive study reveals that these corporate lobby group have been crying wolf. The report, based on a survey of employers and employees, found that the California law has not turned out to be the costly “job killer” that big business warned about. To the contrary, the Paid Family Leave law has produced significant economic, social and health benefits for both male and female workers.

Read the entire story here: Another “Job Killer” Lie Exposed

Strides in flex time show corporate culture can change — but has it really?

A recent New York Times article highlighting the use of flex time for parents working at the ‘Big 4’ accounting firms has received some criticism from Kyra Cavanaugh at MomsRising.org.  Cavanaugh argues that while the Big 4’s strides in family-friendly policies are noteworthy, they simply do not represent the groundbreaking cultural shift claimed in their press releases.

The current corporate culture, says Cavanaugh, values face time and hours worked over performance. This tips the balance in favor men — who typically spend less time away from work performing parenting duties than do women. Thus, until the corporate culture changes its values structure, firms will continue to face the challenges of a male-dominated partner track — and remain unable to offer truly family-friendly workplace environments.

From the NYT:

The accounting industry has improved its flexibility policies in three waves. Deloitte led the way in the early 1990s, adopting more generous maternity policies and more flexible scheduling…

In the second wave, shortly after 2000, many employees complained that the new flexibility policies were geared only to mothers and were not systematic. So several firms broadened their policies, making them available to everyone…

In recent years…many firms took yet more steps to ensure flexibility — for instance, Ernst & Young adopted four-day weekends for Memorial Day, July 4 and Labor Day. Workplace experts stress that employees must not fear they will be penalized for participating in flexibility programs.

But not so fast, says Kyra Cavanaugh:

Yes, accounting firms got out in front on the workplace flexibility issue 20 years ago. It was a market-driven decision motivated by the increase of female CPAs graduating college (60%). And accounting firms have led the way in policy implementation. And, yes, some departments in some accounting firms have made strides in walking the walk, not just talking the talk…

If flex had been so effective a strategy to retain working mothers (and fathers) in the accounting field, then there should be a long line of women waiting to fill their boardrooms.

Read more from MomsRising.org: Memo to Accounting Firms: “Pull Back the Curtain”

Read more form the New York Times: Flex Time Flourishes in Accounting Industry

Success of California paid family leave is a model for Washington state

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California’s Paid Family Leave program – the first of only two state programs in the country that offer paid leave to workers when they take time off to care for a new child or sick family member – has received high marks from employers and employees alike.

In a first-of-its kind study released this week, researchers examined California’s paid family leave program six years after implementation. They determined that early business concerns over costs and potential abuse of the program were unfounded, and confirmed that paid family leave has widespread economic, social and health benefits for the state.

The results of the study should boost efforts by state policymakers who are looking for ways to fund Washington state’s own Family Leave Insurance program.

“Paid family leave has been remarkably successful in California since the state first created it six years ago,” said study co-author Ruth Milkman, professor of Sociology at UCLA and the City University of New York. “It has helped hundreds of thousands of workers – especially in low-wage jobs – balance the costs and challenges of tending to family and work. Despite the fears of critics when it was first enacted, the paid family leave program has been well received: the employers and employees we surveyed overwhelmingly give the program high marks, and for those who use it, the result has been better economic, social, and health outcomes.”

Continue reading “Success of California paid family leave is a model for Washington state”