Critical Assignment-2- Please read the attached article.and write a detailed critical analysis following these instructions (at least 3 pages):1-Summary of the articles.2-What makes these articles...

Critical Assignment-2- Please read the attached article.and write a detailed critical analysis following these instructions (at least 3 pages):1-Summary of the articles.2-What makes these articles strong? (ex: based on research-good references……etc)3-What makes these articles weak?4-Conclusion: your opinion.Work-Life Balance…A Case of Social Responsibility oCompetitive Advantage?2002 Worklifebalance.com, Inc.Human Resources Dept, Dr. ParsonsGeorgia Institute of TechnologyPrepared by: Sunil Joshi, John Leichne, Keith Melanson, Cristina Pruna,Nicolai Sager, Cathi Jo Story, Kevin WilliamsWORK-LIFE BALANCEINTRODUCTIONThe role of work has changed throughout the world due to economic conditions and socialdemands. Originally, work was a matter of necessity and survival. Throughout the years, the roleof “work” has evolved and the composition of the workforce has changed. Today, work still is anecessity but it should be a source of personal satisfaction as well. One of the vehicles to helpprovide attainment of personal and professional goals is work-life benefits and programs.Implementation of these programs in the United States (“U.S.”) and the European Union (“EU”)countries differs, due to fundamental beliefs about the goals of such programs. Are work-lifebalance programs in existence as a result of a social responsibility to employees or to provide acompetitive advantage to employers?Before we can answer this question, we need to define what work-life balance is. Manypeople think of work-life balance only in the framework of what the company does for theindividual. However, work-life balance is a two prong approach. The other prong of work-lifebalance, which many individuals overlook, relates to what individuals do for themselves.According to Jim Bird, CEO of Worklifebalance.com1, “Work-life balance is meaningfulachievement and enjoyment in everyday life.” The primary way companies can help facilitatework-life balance for their employees is through work-life programs and training. Achievement andenjoyment at work is a critical part of anyone’s work-life balance. Furthermore, achievement andenjoyment in the other three quadrants of one’s life (e.g. family, friends and self) is critical as well(see Figure 1 in the Appendix).1Worklifebalance.com is an international work-life balance training and consulting company. Worklifebalance.comprovides training and tools that focus on stress management in the workplace, time management, customer service,and change management. Jim Bird believes that to achieve better work-life balance, each individual needs to worksmarter – to get more done in less time.1WORK-LIFE BALANCEWORK-LIFE BALANCEPROGRAMS IN THEUNITED STATESWork-life balance programs in the U.S. have become increasingly popular through the years.The following lists some of the more common work-life benefits:Flex-timeTelecommutingChild careElder careLeave (e.g. paternity, etc.)Job-sharingEmployee Assistance ProgramsIn-house store/servicesGym subsidiesConcierge servicesVacationWork hoursIn addition to the work-life balance programs listed above, primarily due to the internet boom inthe mid-90s and the growth in the economy, more companies offered other “perks” as well.Items such as company cars and a set number of free flights per year were normal for manycompanies. A four-day work-week as well as flexible hours and casual dress were common also.These perks were primarily instituted to attract, motivate and retain a superior quality workforce.According to a position paper published by Caux Round Table and written by DavidRodbourne in 1996, “While many leading U.S. companies have extensive work-life programs,policies and practices, most have not yet changed their organizational cultures to supportemployees and managers who want to use work-life options.”2This philosophy appeared to bewidespread in the 1990’s, because work-life programs were in place, however if an employeewanted to be a manager, they were not allowed to work four day weeks.In light of the recent economic conditions, there has been a dramatic change in howcorporations view work-life balance programs. Corporations are much more cost consciousabout these programs, but still realize their importance. Despite this more critical view aboutwork-life programs, according to Jim Bird , benefits such as “Employee Assistance Programs are2WORK-LIFE BALANCEconsidered as a standard offering. I do not see them going away.” In the heart of the Internetbubble, work-life balance programs were an added bonus to attract and retain quality employees.Today, the work-life benefits have switched from company cars, significant bonuses, and otherperks to employee fitness centers and dry-cleaning services.Now work-life balance programs are in place as “Recession Perks” according toChallenger Gray and Christmas, Inc.3Many corporations can no longer afford the monetarycompensation they were handing out in the 1990’s. But with layoffs commonplace, thesecompanies are looking to use their inexpensive “Recession Perks” as tools to build loyalty andencourage teamwork and camaraderie with coworkers. Through these benefits, along with thetraditional programs such as insurance and retirement plans, managing the remaining workforceafter layoffs is vital. When the struggling economy turns around, the remaining employees willbe responsible for bringing their respective companies “back to life”, and back to a competitiveforce. Some of the more prevalent work-life programs listed above are discussed in more detailsbelow:Work HoursAmerica currently legally limits non-exempt workers from working more than 40 hours aweek without additional compensation. This legislation is a result of some of the earliestlobbying efforts by labor unions. Exempt workers do not currently have such a restrictionresulting in a wide disparity in how exempt workers are treated. Some companies expect extra23“Learning as We Go, Work-Life Policies & Practices for Business”, David Rodbourne, July 1996. Published bythe Caux Round Table at internet site http://cauxroundtable.org/WF-CRT96.htm.“recession ‘Perks’ May be Reawakening the Economy” Copyright 2001 American City Business Journals Inc.,11/26/01, internet site http://sanjose.bizjournals.com/stories/2001/11/25/daily 8.html.3WORK-LIFE BALANCEhours to be put in without extra compensation while at the other end of the spectrum some firmscompensate exempt workers as well as non-exempt for overtime.Paternity LeavePaternity leave is an issue that has recently received attention with the passing of theFamily and Medical Leave Act. The intent of the Family and Medical Leave Act was tostandardize the rights employees have to family leave. While originally intended to protectworking mothers, the scope of the law was expanded to incorporate the changing needs of theAmerican family. As more of the population deals with elderly parental care, single parenting,etc., the mandated leave affords a broad spectrum of demographic groups’ coverage. The currentminimum in the U.S. is 12 weeks but 19 percent of companies currently go beyond the scope ofthe law and offer more leave. 4ChildcareOf conventional families (mother & father) in the U.S., 62.8 percent are dual-incomehouseholds. As a result, many companies offer child care benefits as an enticement to workerswith families. The methods used to support workers are varied and few concepts are universallyaccepted. In-house child care facilities, after school programs, subsidized child care, and referralservices are all ways that employers use to help employees care for their children. One fairlycommon program is child care spending accounts. These programs take advantage of tax reliefprovided by the federal government and are offered by over 90 percent of employers. 545“U.S. Salaried Work/Life Benefits 2001-2002”, Hewitt Associates LLC.ibid.4WORK-LIFE BALANCEVacationVacation time in the U.S. is one area where the federal government has not weighed inwith significant legislation. While most companies offer two weeks to new employees as astandard, each company in the U.S. can determine their own vacation policy. Therefore,disparities exist between vacation policies which are a source of competitive advantage.Typically, those employees with more seniority receive more vacation time. Many companiesoffer the ability to accrue more vacation time in relation to the length of service. However, veryfew companies offer additional vacation time as a reward for good work.TelecommutingTelecommuting is a relatively new concept brought about by the widespread availabilityof computers and the internet. This primarily allows workers in white collar jobs to work fromhome by linking employees to a company’s network and completing work from home. One ofthe primary purposes of telecommuting is to allow employees to spend less time commuting, aswell as allowing their schedule to be a bit more flexible. Currently 30 percent of U.S. firmsallow some form of telecommuting. 6WORK-LIFE BALANCEPROGRAMS IN THEEUROPEANUNIONThe countries of the EU have a different cultural viewpoint, than that of the U.S., withrespect to work-life programs. Often, programs came about as a result of government legislationbacked by public mandate. This demonstrates that European programs are based primarily onsocial responsibility rather than competitive advantage.6ibid.5WORK-LIFE BALANCEIn contrast to the U.S., there are different approaches to work-life balance in Europe.These approaches depend on cultural characteristics of the various member countries and thelevel of development of the economies. However, the EU is trying to establish certain guidelinesfor all countries that aim to reduce discrepancies between the work-life initiatives of thecountries.According to Cary Cooper, professor of organizational psychology and health at theUniversity of Manchester Institute of Science and Technology, the “Americanisation of workingpractices in Europe , including an increase in outsourcing, hours at work, delayering andfreelancing, is increasing stress levels.”7This Americanization had led the EU to investigateguidelines regarding work hours, holidays, and parental/paternity leave. Telecommuting andchild care are also topics of interest to the EU in relation to overall work-life health of itsmember countries.The European Employment Strategy8emphasizes that member states should design,implement, and promote policies which favor the family, including the establishment ofaffordable, accessible and high quality child-care services. In March of 2000, the FrenchPresidency administered a set of questionnaires to the EU countries to gather data about worklife balance indicators so that overall EU guidelines could be recommended.9In the 2001Employment Guidelines, member states were invited to set national targets for increasing the789Accountancy Age, October 19, 2000.Commission of the European Communities, Joint Employment Report, 2001, page 2 – “Title VIII of the Treatyestablishing the European Community lays down the principles toward developing a coordinated strategy foremployment. Article 128 specifically details the steps leading to the formulation of such a strategy including,on an annual basis, guidelines for employment, recommendations to the Member States and a joint report by theCouncil and the Commission to the European Council on the employment situation in the Community and onthe implementation of the guidelines.”Eurostat Working Papers – Feasibility Study on the availability of comparable child care statistics in theEuropean Union, 2002 edition, page 13. www.europa.int (official site for the European Union).6WORK-LIFE BALANCEavailability of care for children and other dependents. While the EU may want to establishuniform standards for all its member countries, because the statistical data varies greatly fromcountry to country, individual goals are more feasible at this time. Some of the more prevalentwork-life programs in the EU are discussed below:Work HoursIn 1995, the Council of the EU recommended a maximum 48-hour work week in order toprotect the safety and health of workers. However, hours that employees actually work amongthe EU countries still varies. A report published in 2000 by the Trade Unions Congress foundBritish employees were working an average of 43.6 hours a week, compared with 39.6 in France,38.5 in Italy and 40.1 in Germany.10While France’s average number of hours worked per weekis 38.5, France mandates time and a half or bonuses paid for working more than 35 hours perweek. According to a study by the European Community Household Panel, 12 percent ofworkers believe they have a low number of work hours, and 44.8 percent believe they have ahigh number of work hours.Paternity LeavePaternity Leave is a relatively new trend some EU countries but not in others. InDenmark where paternal rights have existed for more than 20 years, regulations have beenrefined to give fathers more rights in taking care of their children. In particular, under new rulesimplemented in March 2000, parental leave is granted to fathers for the first time and leaveentitlement is extended to a total of 10 months leave at 30 percent of regular salary until thechild’s third birthday. Any period of leave cannot exceed six consecutive months. As of7WORK-LIFE BALANCEDecember 2001, 40 percent of Nordic fathers actually took advantage of these rights, encouragedby tax penalties if they did not and generous financing at about 80 percent of average salaries ifthey did. 11In contract the government in the UK recognized paternal rights at the end of the lastdecade. For too long, family friendly policies were simply equated with policies for workingmothers. The EU Directive on Parental Leave has since put the UK on par with the rest ofEurope, and two weeks’ paid paternity leave is promised starting 2003. Some companies havetaken initiative to implement paternal leave prior to the EU’s directive. Four out of 10 UKemployers chose to make provisions prior to the Directive.The next challenge to the scope of family leave comes from across the Atlantic. In theU.S., family leave is not limited to care for young children but includes everyone in the familyfrom the spouse to elderly relatives through the Family and Medical Leave Act. 12VacationIn addition to a recommended maximum number of work hours, the EU also in 1993formally recommended that employees receive four weeks mandatory vacation. Again, thelength of holiday varies among EU countries. Flexible holiday policies are a trend that some EUnations are embracing. Under current Dutch law, employees who do not take their full holidayentitlement cannot receive cash in lieu, other than as part of a termination package. Newproposals would allow employees to have surplus holiday paid off, provided that they actuallytake at least 20 days holiday leave. Historically, companies would just close their operations andhave all employees take holiday leave at the same time. With the increase in globalization,1011The Engineer, February 2, 2001.Personnel Today, December 11, 2001.8WORK-LIFE BALANCEcompanies are interested in being open for business all the time which creates opportunities foremployees to take partial holiday leave and work the remainder of the holiday for the extraincome. However, holiday time is still valued by European workers. Facts 2000 survey claimedthat employees would rate having more than 30 days holiday as a more attractive benefit thanhaving a company car or a pension. 13A quick scan of vacation time in the countries where U.S. firms do most of theirEuropean business reveals that four weeks is below the average vacation time most Europeansalready enjoy. For example, in France 25 days is the minimum required by law, though 25 to 27days is standard. Germany requires employers to give 20 days, though 30 is standard practice.(Some Germans enjoy as much as 15 weeks of paid leave each year). The Netherlands likewiserequires 20 days but most employers offer between 25 and 27 days. Only the United Kingdomhad no mandated vacation time prior to the spring of 1998. At that time, Prime Minister TonyBlair ushered in the European Working Time Directive, which set forth mandatory annual leaveand brought the country into compliance with EU regulations. While the new legislation marks ashift from hands-off to hands-on governmental policy, it should not affect operations at mostcompanies in the U.K. The majority of employers already offered four to five weeks vacationtime.ChildcareDeveloping childcare provision systems in the EU appears to have been an emergingpriority for the past 15 years. This concern is related to the need to promote equal opportunitiesfor men and women in the labor pool. In a published report in 1988, the European Commission1213Ibid.The Financial Times, Europe Intelligence Wire, January 25, 2001.9WORK-LIFE BALANCEEqual Opportunities Unit recognized the need for consistent information about childcare as amajor component of the work-life equilibrium. As a basis for this, the EC Childcare Networkundertook a study of routine data already existing on the subject in the member states followedby further reviews of the subject.14Despite discrepancies in statistics and information aboutchildcare available across EU member countries, the EU does its best to gather information andrecommend guidelines to benefit both working parents and children.Childcare subsidies are available throughout the EU, but the cost of childcare remains acontroversial issue. In the UK, parents face the highest European childcare costs. The DaycareTrust says, on average, parents in Europe contribute just 25 percent of the full cost of a nurseryplace, compared the 75 percent paid by parents in the UK. Despite the large EU governmentsubsidies and tax credits (outside the UK), the Daycare Trust says that the high charges are stillpreventing some parents from returning to work. 15TelecommutingResearch from a UK Labor Force Survey, conducted by industry analyst Datamonitorshows that 1.7 million people, about six percent of Britons, now telecommute at least one day aweek. The figure falls to 1.1 million or 4.2 percent if you exclude those who do it onlyoccasionally. The number of people working from home across Europe could jump by morethan 50 percent between now and 2005. The driving force is a desire among employees for abetter balance between work and life and, among employers, to hang on to their best people. The1415Eurostat Working Papers – Feasibility Study on the availability of comparable child care statistics in theEuropean Union, 2002 edition, page 12. www.europa.int (official site for the European Union).The Guardian, July 31, 2001 & Daycare Trust, UK national childcare charity, www.daycaretrust.org.uk.10WORK-LIFE BALANCEevents of September 11 added a third reason: even if they can get to work without delay anddisruption, many people would prefer not to work in a high-rise office tower. 16Other EU countries expect telecommuting to become more prevalent as well. A surveyconducted in late 1998 shows the percentage of European executives that expect telecommutingto become widespread in use by 2003. Asked about work practices they expect to be prevalent intheir own companies within five years, 53 percent of UK executives expected telecommuting tobe in widespread use. Percentages for other countries are seen in Table 1 below:17Germany34%Belgium30%Netherlands 29%Italy23%Spain13%France10%Table 1SUMMARY OFU.S.VS. EUWork-life balance programs are a matter of interest in both the U.S. and EU. However,the approach to implementing these programs is different in the two regions. In the U.S.,companies implement work-life balance programs, and the government has little involvement.For U.S. companies, work-life balance offers a competitive advantage, in that they are able torecruit the best candidates and potentially increase their loyalty to the company. In the EU, thedifferent countries impose more strict regulations on employers which reduce their flexibility inregard to programs such as vacation time, paternal leave, flex-time, telecommuting, etc.1617The Financial Times, January 31, 2002.“Executive use of technologies and executive expectations about telework,” European Telework Online,http://www.eto.org.uk/eustats/opinion.htm.11WORK-LIFE BALANCEDue to the fact that the social, political, and cultural factors are more closely tied in theEU, work-life balance programs are commonplace and are thought more as a socialresponsibility than in the U.S. However, the EU is behind the U.S. in regards to recognizing thePERSONAL responsibility of the individual. In the EU, it is time to address the individual’sneed to have tools, through training for example, to better create their own work-life balance. 18A direct comparison between the U.S. and EU is difficult to establish, because in the U.S.there are few federal work-life balance policies. Companies ultimately shoulder theresponsibility for developing and implementing these programs. Although, there will probablynever be a single mandate for work hours, vacation, paternity leave, childcare and telecommutingthat applies to all EU countries, the EU does an excellent job of recommending policy withmembers representing the different cultures and work values of the region.Both the U.S. and EU can learn a lot from each other regarding work-life balance. Themarket forces that significantly influence U.S firms are good for business. In addition, U.S.firms must keep in mind that social change fuels much of the momentum behind these marketfactors. EU countries and firms must realize that the “Americanisation” of Europe is a sideeffect of market “globalization.” In other words, European countries and firms must realize thatin order to maintain a strong economic position, social responsibility is equally as important asdeveloping competitive human capital programs.RETURN ONINVESTMENTThe argument for or against work-life balance programs often hinges on the company’sability to show significant financial gain as a result of these programs. Many corporate decisionsrely on a positive net present value to be shown for any project to move forward. Interestingly,18Jim Bird, CEO of Worklifebalance.com.12WORK-LIFE BALANCEfor all the emphasis on such financial justification, very few hard numbers exist on the success orfailure of work-life programs. More often companies have quantified the benefits of suchprograms through a variety of performance measures indirectly related to financial return. Thefollowing paragraphs look at some ways companies have attempted to develop a justification forprograms.Since work-life programs are a part of a company’s compensation and culture, theirbenefits are most often seen on the human resources front. One of the first ways that firms haveshown a benefit is in recruiting. Effective work-life programs are an effective marketing methodfor attracting employees. Additionally, oftentimes job seekers are drawn to “Best Place toWork” 19 lists that are published in magazines such asFortuneand Working Mother. Oncepotential applicants are recruited, work-life programs are often a deal maker. They often sway apotential applicant’s choice of job offers to the company offering the best programs.Most importantly, effective work-life programs help forge a symbiotic relationshipbetween an employer and employee that leads to mutual benefits. Employees who are better ableto balance the demands on their time are more satisfied and content. This in turns leads to realbenefits for the employer in terms of productivity gains, lowered turnover rate, a stronger teamspirit, and loyalty to the employer. Operationally, a lower turnover rate leads to reduction in newemployee training costs, as well as the more elusive costs associated with informal training thatexisting employees provide to new team members. While these gains have been sporadicallymeasured, no definitive study has been able to associate performance gains directly withfinancial performance gains. The trends in the data do show improvements in the areas listed19In fact, a study by Vanderbilt University and Hewitt Associates found the companies on the “Best Place toWork” list outperformed similar companies that weren’t on it, and also did better than the broad market,showing “substantial financial performance advances.” (see Figure 2 in the Appendix)13WORK-LIFE BALANCEand thus are related to greater profitability derived from the improved efficiency of theworkplace.Concrete measurements are difficult to get for any indirect business effort – even theimpact of most technology. For work-life balance, there have been studies which indicate adirect correlation between work-life balance programs and customer serv…