Labor and Employment Law Commons^™

Flyer, Workplace Flexibility 2010, Georgetown University Law Center

Briefings, Hearings, and Congressional Study Group

Flyer for Promoting Children's Well-Being: The Role of Workplace Flexibility, a Workplace Flexibility 2010 event held September 29, 2006.

Highlights From Families And Work Institute's 2008 National Study Of Employers (Families And Work Institute), Workplace Flexibility 2010, Georgetown University Law Center

Briefings, Hearings, and Congressional Study Group

Highlights from Families and Work Institute’s 2008 National Study of Employers.

Families and Work Institute’s 2008 National Study of Employers (NSE) is the most comprehensive and far-reaching study of the practices, policies, programs and benefits provided by U.S employers to address the changing needs of today’s workforce and workplace. The 2008 NSE sample includes 1,100 employers with 50 or more employees—77 percent are for profit employers and 23 percent are nonprofit organizations; 40 percent operate at only one location, while 60 percent have operations at more than one location.

Snapshot Of Fwi Research On U.S. Employees And Work-Life Fit (Families And Work Institute), Workplace Flexibility 2010, Georgetown University Law Center

Briefings, Hearings, and Congressional Study Group

A presentation: Snapshot of FWI Research on U.S. Employees and Work-Life Fit by Families and Work Institute on behalf of Workplace Flexibility 2010.

Wellness Profiles (Families And Work Institute), Workplace Flexibility 2010, Georgetown University Law Center

Briefings, Hearings, and Congressional Study Group

2009 Guide to Bold New Ideas for Making Work Work.

Excerpts from the 2009 Edition profiling winners of the Alfred P. Sloan Awards for Business Excellence in Workplace Flexibility.

The selected profiles highlight flexible employers with strong wellness initiatives.

Presentation By Diane Halpern, Diane F. Halpern Phd

Briefings, Hearings, and Congressional Study Group

A presentation: Workplace Flexibility: The Case for Employers, Employees, and Public Policies by Diane F. Halpern, PhD, Claremont McKenna College on behalf of Workplace Flexibility 2010.

Presentation By Joseph Grzywacz, Joseph G. Grzywacz Phd

Briefings, Hearings, and Congressional Study Group

A presentation: Workplace Flexibility & Employee Health & Well-being by Joseph G. Grzywacz, PhD, Wake Forest University, School of Medicine on behalf of Workplace Flexibility 2010.

"Highlights From October 23, 2009 Congressional Briefing", Workplace Flexibility 2010, Georgetown University Law Center

Briefings, Hearings, and Congressional Study Group

A document with the highlights from the October 23, 2009 Congressional Briefing.

Briefing Flyer, Workplace Flexibility 2010, Georgetown University Law Center

Briefings, Hearings, and Congressional Study Group

The briefing flyer from the Flexible Work Arrangements: Working for Americas Employers and Employees event held December 14, 2009.

Cultivating Justice For The Working Poor: Clinical Representation Of Unemployment Claimants, Colleen F. Shanahan

Georgetown Law Faculty Publications and Other Works

The combination of current economic conditions and recent changes in the United States’ welfare system makes representation of unemployment insurance claimants by clinic students a timely learning opportunity. While unemployment insurance claimants often share similarities with student attorneys, they are unable to access justice as easily as student attorneys, and as a result, face the risk of severe poverty. Clinical representation of unemployment claimants is a rich opportunity for students to experience making a difference for a client, and to understand the issues of poverty and justice that these clients experience along the way. These cases reveal that larger lessons …

The Who Global Code Of Practice On The International Recruitment Of Health Personnel: The Evolution Of Global Health Diplomacy, Allyn L. Taylor, Ibadat S. Dhillon

Georgetown Law Faculty Publications and Other Works

The May 2010 adoption of the World Health Organization Global Code of Practice on the International Recruitment of Health Personnel created a global architecture, including ethical norms and institutional and legal arrangements, to guide international cooperation and serve as a platform for continuing dialogue on the critical problem of health worker migration. Highlighting the contribution of non-binding instruments to global health governance, this article describes the Code negotiation process from its early stages to the formal adoption of the final text of the Code. Detailed are the vigorous negotiations amongst key stakeholders, including the active role of non-governmental organizations. The …

Following In Paul Miller's (Very Large) Footsteps, Chai R. Feldblum

Georgetown Law Faculty Publications and Other Works

A tribute to Paul Miller, former Commissioner of the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC). Miller was a leader on disability rights and on ensuring that the EEOC was effectively and forcefully implementing the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) of 1990. The author discusses Miller's work as EEOC Commissioner.

Family Security Insurance: A New Foundation For Economic Security, Workplace Flexibility 2010, Georgetown University Law Center, Berkeley Center On Health, Economic & Family Security, Uc Berkeley School Of Law

Published Reports

A report released by Georgetown Law's Workplace Flexibility 2010 and the Berkeley Center on Health, Economic & Family Security (Berkeley CHEFS) outlining a blueprint for establishing and financing a new national insurance program to provide wage replacement for time off for health and caregiving needs. The report describes the need among working Americans for time off from work to address personal illness, to care for a new child, or to care for a loved one with a serious illness. It argues that the need for time off is no longer an issue for individual families or select industries, but a …

Overview Of Job Protected Leave, Workplace Flexibility 2010, Georgetown University Law Center

Memos and Fact Sheets

An overview of job protected leave by number of employees and state.

Exploring Policy Models For Extended Time Off, Erica H. Zielewski, Shelley Waters Boots

Memos and Fact Sheets

Whether it’s a personal health condition, the birth of a new child, or the need to address a serious health issue of an aging parent, many, if not most workers, find that at certain points in their lives, they will need an extended amount of time off from work. We refer to this as Extended Time Off (EXTO). In addition, there is a growing body of research that outlines the potential benefits of paid time off for workers, their families (and in particular children), as well as some research suggesting a benefit to employers providing paid EXTO. While the U.S. …

Federal Employees Part-Time Career Employment Act Of 1978: Overview, Workplace Flexibility 2010, Georgetown University Law Center

Memos and Fact Sheets

The Federal Employees Part-Time Career Employment Act aims to utilize the potential of persons who do not work a traditional forty-hour workweek. Having found that part-time permanent employment has a number of benefits,i Congress passed legislation extending part-time career employment opportunities throughout the federal government in 1978.

Phased Retirement Data Sheet, Workplace Flexibility 2010, Georgetown University Law Center

Memos and Fact Sheets

This data sheet includes information on current coverage and participation by American workers in pension and retirement plans. It also includes information on what employees say they want in terms of flexible work arrangements and access to pension and retirement funds, as well as what employers say they need with regard to the workforce of the future.

Early Retirement Incentive Plans And The Age Discrimination In Employment Act, Workplace Flexibility 2010, Georgetown University Law Center

Memos and Fact Sheets

Early retirement incentive plans (ERIP) “seek to give incentives to older employees to retire before conventional retirement age. The purpose of these programs is to cut back on salaries and benefits to make way for younger workers.” While some ERIPs might constitute a prohibited act under the Age Discrimination in Employment Act (ADEA), the statute provides an affirmative defense for employers who can prove that the plan is voluntary and “consistent with the purposes” of the Act.

Some commentators have suggested that one way to encourage employers to establish bona fide phased retirement programs within their qualified pension plans is …

Benefits, Rights And Features Nondiscrimination Testing And Phased Retirement Programs, Workplace Flexibility 2010, Georgetown University Law Center

Memos and Fact Sheets

Various studies indicate that formal phased retirement programs within defined benefit plans are wanted and needed by both employers and employees. Phased retirement programs may be useful for employees who want to reduce their hours during later stages of their careers, but who wish to remain in the workforce. For employers, a phased retirement program may be a useful tool to retain talented employees who may otherwise fully retire.

In designing phased retirement programs, It is not surprising that many employers wish to have significant discretion in deciding which employees they will seek to retain through a phased retirement program. …

Phased Retirement Benefits And Final Full Retirement Calculations: Open Issues, Workplace Flexibility 2010, Georgetown University Law Center

Memos and Fact Sheets

This document briefly describes two issues relating to the final, full retirement benefit for individuals who receive a phased retirement distribution from a defined benefit plan: 1) whether and how any phased retirement distribution would offset the final full retirement benefit, and 2) the form of the payment of the final, full retirement benefit.

A Timeline Of The Evolution Of Retirement In The United States, Workplace Flexibility 2010, Georgetown University Law Center

Memos and Fact Sheets

This document provides key highlights in the history of retirement in the United States. It provides some background on how the concept of retirement, and its legal treatment, has evolved. This time-line does not include every law related to pension and retirement plans. Rather, it emphasizes those laws that have come to shape how we view retirement, particularly the tax laws that encouraged employers to establish pension and retirement plans in the first place.

Selected Resources On Flexible Work Arrangements For Lower-Wage Workers, Workplace Flexibility 2010, Georgetown University Law Center

Memos and Fact Sheets

A list of resources for low-wage workers regarding flexible work arrangements.

Faqs About Employees And Employee Benefits, Pamela Perun

Memos and Fact Sheets

This primer is an introduction to the basic laws of employee benefits. It is often assumed that there are legal impediments to employers providing benefits to phased retirees, part-time workers and the contingent workforce. From a benefits law perspective, this is really not true. By statute, self-employed workers are sometimes excluded from plans required to be employee-only but employers face few other prohibitions when designing their plans.

From an employer’s perspective, there are far more impediments to excluding these workers from their benefit plans than including them. Tax law provides incentives to employers who sponsor plans and to workers who …

Legal And Research Summary Sheet: Phased Retirement, Chantel Sheaks J.D., Marcie Pitt-Catsouphes Phd, Michael A. Smyer Phd

Memos and Fact Sheets

During the first decade of the 21st century, significant attention has been paid to the widely anticipated retirement of the Baby Boom generation from the U.S. workforce. Employers and policymakers have considered important questions such as:

• What percentage of older workers are likely to retire on a full-time basis between the ages of 62-65?

• What might the implications of a “mass exodus” of Baby Boomers mean for different types of businesses?

• Which types of policies and practices might encourage some older workers to extend their labor force participation, thereby enabling employers to retain the knowledge and skills of these experienced …

Workplace Flexibility: A Norm Of The American Workplace, Workplace Flexibility 2010, Georgetown University Law Center

Memos and Fact Sheets

A PowerPoint slide-show that outlines the challenges, options, policies, solutions, and innovations associated with Flexible Work Arrangements.

Family And Medical Leave: Selective Background Information, Workplace Flexibility 2010, Georgetown University Law Center

Memos and Fact Sheets

Topics covered:

Who is currently working for a “covered employer” under the FMLA and, of those employees, how many are eligible for FMLA-related leave?

Of eligible individuals who work for covered employers, how many used leave rights under the FMLA?

Who needed the type of leave offered by the FMLA but did not take such leave?

What percentage of private sector establishments are covered under the FMLA?

Flexible Work Arrangements: The Fact Sheet, Jean Flatley Mcguire, Kaitlyn Kenney, Phyllis Brashler

Memos and Fact Sheets

A "flexible work arrangement" (FWA) is any one of a spectrum of work structures that alters the time and/or place that work gets done on a regular basis. The term includes (but is not limited to):

1. flexibility in the scheduling of hours worked, such as alternative work schedules (e.g., flex time and compressed workweeks), and arrangements regarding shift and breack schedules:

2. flexibility in the amount of hours worked, such as part-time work and job shares; and

3. flexibility in the place of work, such as working at home or at a satellite location.

Honest-Services Fraud: A (Vague) Threat To Millions Of Blissfully Unaware (And Non-Culpable) American Workers, Julie R. O'Sullivan

Georgetown Law Faculty Publications and Other Works

The author believes that statute 18 U.S.C. § 1346 is unconstitutionally vague, at least as applied to cases in which employees of private entities are prosecuted for depriving their employers of a right to their honest services (so-called “private cases”). Objections to vagueness rest on due process. “Vagueness may invalidate a criminal law for either of two independent reasons. First, it may fail to provide the kind of notice that will enable ordinary people to understand what conduct it prohibits; second, it may authorize and even encourage arbitrary and discriminatory enforcement.” The Supreme Court’s vagueness precedents do not provide much …

Three Transnational Discourses Of Labor Law In Domestic Reforms, Alvaro Santos

Georgetown Law Faculty Publications and Other Works

Current labor law debates, in the United States and elsewhere, reflect entrenched discursive positions that make potential reform seem impossible. This Article identifies and examines the three most influential positions, which it names the “social,” “the neoliberal,” and the “rights-based” approach. It shows that these discursive positions are truly transnational in character. In contrast with conventional wisdom, which accepts the incompatibility of these positions, this Article creates a conceptual framework that productively combines elements from each to enrich the debates over labor law reform and to foster institutional imagination. Applying this framework, the Article examines the collective bargaining systems of …

Testimony On The Employment Non-Discrimination Act (Enda) And The Religious Exemption : Hearing Before The H. Comm. On Education And Labor, 111th Cong., Sept. 23, 2009 (Statement Of Adjunct Professor David N. Saperstein, Geo. U. L. Center), David N. Saperstein

Testimony Before Congress

We are long past the point when our laws should permit discrimination against any individual because of their sexual orientation. Just as we do not tolerate behavior that discriminates based on race, gender, national origin or religion, so should we be clear about discrimination based on the characteristic of being gay or lesbian. For many of America’s faith traditions, this is a religious value. It is a moral value. And for all of us, it is of great social and economic value, as evidenced by the nearly 90% of Fortune 500 companies that already have policies consistent with ENDA. They …

Flexible Work Arrangements: Improving Job Quality And Workforce Stability For Low-Wage Workers And Their Employers, Jessica Glenn, Liz Watson

Published Reports

In 2009, workers and their families across the country felt the impact of serious economic downturn, with unemployment reaching a 26-year high. While recent news suggests things may be improving, we cannot forget that for many low-wage and hourly workers -- who now represent over a quarter of the U.S. workforce -- the recession only exacerbated their ongoing struggle to hold down quality jobs while caring for their families.

Low-wage workers face many of the same challenges that the rest of us face in reconciling our work, family and personal lives, but for many of these workers, it's simply a …