On April 22, the House Education and Labor Subcommittee on Workforce Protections held a hearing on the Work-Life Balance Award Act (H.R. 4855).
Chair Lynn Woolsey (D-CA) said, “H.R. 4855, the Work-Life Balance Award Act, establishes an award at the Department of Labor to be presented annually to employers of any size that have exemplary work-life policies. The bill also sets up an independent board appointed by the secretary of Labor based on recommendations from Congress to develop criteria, as well as the application process…The bill should identify certain work-life practices on which employers would be measured. While I do not have an exhaustive list, these policies could include paid sick leave to care for oneself or a sick family member and for the birth or adoption of a child; time off to attend children’s extracurricular activities and school conferences; telecommuting; job sharing; and on site-child care.” Rep. Woolsey added, “Creating an award at the U.S. Department of Labor is important so that we can send the message that the federal government supports and encourages work-life balance. This award, however, is not intended to supplant other awards, but to complement ongoing efforts.”
Ranking Member Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R-WA) said, “While the bill has but one stated goal – to recognize employers who are able to creatively meet the needs of their workers in achieving some measure of work-life balance – I hope that we can focus the discussion on ways to encourage employers to accommodate employee requests for greater workplace flexibility, without the use of government mandates that can raise the cost of employment and stifle creative arrangements.” She added, “I know, as a new mom myself, that one of the biggest struggles working parents face is how to balance work and family responsibilities. Employees are looking for flexibility to get the job done, while also being able to make the school play, stay at home with a sick child, or care for an elderly parent. Employers are looking to stay in business. Consequently, we must carefully balance the costs and benefits for both employers and employees alike. To that end, I’ve introduced a bill, H.R. 933, the Family-Friendly Workplace Act, which… would allow private sector employers to give their employees the option to voluntarily choose paid compensatory time off, known as ‘comp time,’ in lieu of overtime pay. This is something that, by most accounts, has been successful and immensely popular with public sector employees for 25 years.”
“My approach generally on any proposed legislation, as a first principle of inquiry is: does the government need to do this?” said Victoria Lipnic, commissioner of the Equal Employment and Opportunity Commission (EEOC). She continued, “Certainly, there are private sector organizations that provide similar recognition to what the Work-Life Balance Award would provide. The Alfred P. Sloan Award for Business Excellence in Workplace Flexibility (in conjunction with the U.S. Chamber of Commerce’s Institute for a Competitive Workforce) has been around for many years. That award is backed by years of well-developed research and nationally representative data from the Families and Work Institute and uses benchmarked criteria. Working Mother magazine also has a well-established award where they name the ‘100 Best Companies to Work For’ every year. Work-life balance policies are a part of that assessment. Fortune magazine names the ‘100 Best Companies’ every year in partnership with the Great Place to Work Institute and conducts an extensive employee survey in corporate America. And there are many local chambers of commerce who give awards every year…With so many similar awards already out in the marketplace, it is fair to ask whether this award will serve a worthwhile purpose? I think the answer to that is yes. Let me give you a couple of perspectives on that…There is tremendous prestige associated with winning an award from a cabinet secretary. The prestige of receiving an award from the secretary of Labor cannot be discounted in the analysis of whether the Work-Life Balance Award is worthwhile…My former firm encouraged employers to apply for the award as part of our affirmative action and diversity practice. Companies that may have won that award years ago, point to it as an example of how ahead of the time they were in the equal employment opportunity efforts. That award – for the organizations that receive it – I believe, is transformational. It serves a similar function to the Baldrige National Quality Award – the mere effort of applying for the award and having to raise the organization’s performance level (in this case for equal employment opportunity efforts) had a major impact on the organization. I would hope and expect that, if done well, the secretary’s Work-Life Balance Award would have the same impact.”
China Miner Gorman, chief global member engagement officer for the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM), said, “SHRM and its members support the Work-Life Balance Award Act, a common-sense bill to recognize and showcase those public and private organizations delivering benefit plans and policies that truly help their employees better balance their work and personal life obligations. We believe this measure is complementary to the philosophy of SHRM and its members, and highlights the importance of workplace flexibility. H.R. 4855 affirms a key SHRM principle with regard to workplace flexibility public policy – encouraging organizations to be innovative and flexible in the ways they offer flexible workplace benefits and policies can ultimately enable employers to better meet the needs of their workforce while also contributing to an organization’s success.” She added, “Since there are many thriving awards programs currently in place, some may question the need to establish another award of this nature within the DoL. SHRM appreciates this concern and believes H.R. 4855 would complement these other awards programs. We also encourage policymakers to consider these other award initiatives as this legislation moves forward. There may in fact be opportunities to learn from and/or collaborate with existing awards programs that could ultimately strengthen this type of federal award. In addition, we believe that the Work-Life Balance Award Act will be helpful in shining a national spotlight on an issue of societal importance.”
Portia Wu, vice president of the National Partnership for Women and Families, recommended some provisions to consider in the legislation: “While the bill leaves it up to a selected board to determine the criteria used to confer these awards, we respectfully suggest some key requirements that should be met, so that the award recognizes true best practices that benefit employees and employers. First, the award process should recognize the importance of work-family policies that provide paid sick days for workers to handle immediate medical needs and obtain preventive care for themselves and their families, as well as longer-term paid leave to address chronic and serious medical conditions. And because there are many family needs in addition to those related to health care, we recommend that the board recognize the value of workplace policies that permit employees to structure flexible work arrangements. We also recommend that the scope of family members covered by these policies be drawn broadly to encompass the reality of modern families. In addition, it is critical that policies recognized by this award apply equally to all workers at a company. Finally, workers should be able to avail themselves of offered leave or flexible arrangements without being penalized or losing opportunities for promotion or higher wages. We also believe that policymakers, businesses, and the public would benefit from broader and more detailed information about the scope and type of work-family policies being adopted in the private sector. We therefore recommend that the awards process involve the collection and dissemination of data about companies’ work-family policies. This could include data about availability and uptake of work-family programs.”
Carol Evans, president of Working Mother Media, also testified.
