Working Mother magazine compiled this list of potential workplace flexibility laws although the article points out that none of the laws are likely to pass this year.

Working Families Flexibility Act (H.R. 1274): This legislation would give employees the right to request flexible work terms and receive a written response from their employer within 14 days.

Family Friendly Workplace Act (H.R. 933): This legislation would amend the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) to permit employers to offer employees the choice of receiving paid time off in lieu of overtime wages.

The Family Work Flexibility Act: Aims to amend the Internal Revenue Code to allow employers a business tax credit for the cost of teleworking equipment used by employees to telework and for expenses to maintain such equipment.

The last item, the Family Work Flexibility Act, seems it would have the best measure of success with companies. I’m unsure of the potential of the other two laws. For one, it’s unfortunate that legislation is underway to simply allow an employee the right to request flexible work terms and receive a written response from their employer (which will likely be “no, but thanks for asking.”).

It’s nice to know that some folks are thinking about workplace flexibility options but it still has a long way to go.

I’m not sure who these folks are that care for their children and are also employed at home with a successful business. I think parents are kidding themselves if they think that writing a blog post or listening in on a conference call with the mute button pressed while their child colors on the floor next to them is the same as caring for your child. It’s okay to work occasionally when your children are around, in fact, I think it’s good for them to see this side of you. But the idea that you can have a successful career and care for your children at the same time, both from home, is ludicrous. If you think it is possible, I’d love to hear your explanation.

In fact it’s making me rethink my logo, which shows a mom working with a baby at her feet. I suppose when you have a baby you can certainly get more done than with a toddler, and when your children are in school you can get loads accomplished. But I don’t want to reinforce the false idea that working from home means you can have it all. It doesn’t. Work is still work and children still need attention. Child care is necessary.

And when we say that we can work from home while at the same time caring for our children, doesn’t that diminish the role of mother? I don’t consider the “supermom” who says she can do it all to be anything to idolize. For years mothers have been trying to get respect for the hardest job in the world. If we say we can care for our young children at the same time we can run a business, then maybe being a mother isn’t so hard after all. Anyone want to argue that?

Worst Workspace

The company states ” Together, they’re looking to rescue woeful workspaces across the country, from homely home offices to cluttered, crummy cubicles to disgusting dorm rooms.”

Prizes are listed below, per the CSN web site. To apply you”ll need to describe your workspace in 25- 250 words.

Grand Prize for the Absolute Worst Workspace: A Herman Miller Workspace, featuring an Airia Desk, an Airia Media Cabinet, an Eames Aluminum Group Chair, a Leaf Light, a Cognita Bench, and $250 in CSNOffice.com Rewards Dollars to stock up on office supplies. (Value: $6,500).
First Prize for the Worst Home Office: A BDI Workspace, featuring the Sequel Office Suite, and $250 in CSNOffice.com Rewards Dollars. (Value: $4,200).
First Prize for the Worst Office Space: A Steelcase Workspace, including the Currency Single Pedestal Desk, an L Desk Extension, a Mobile Pedestal, a Think Chair, and a Underline Light (Value: $2,100).
First Prize for the Worst Student Workspace: A Humanscale Workspace, including the Freedom Chair, a Foot Machine, and a Keyboard System (Value: $2,000).

I am in no way endorsing CSN or it’s products. I just thought this was a fun contest for all of those who work at home. Good luck!

Just because a company is on one of those Top 100 Best Places to Work list doesn’t really mean it’s the top place for you to work. Working Mother included it in one of its Best Lists because the company offered ” flex time, job shares, telecommuting, and seminars on pediatric issues.”

A neighbor works for another one of those Top Companies for Working Mothers. Her company was included because it provides onsite childcare for when one has to work extra hours. Gee thanks. Now I can continue to not see my kids but continue to work longer hours, for you, the company.

 That’s fine if that is what employees want but I usually dismiss those Best Companies to Work For lists as much as I dismiss those Best Places to Live reports. The information is compiled from stacks of data, graphs on paper,  not real life anecdotes.

For example, ever heard of a results-only work environment? I haven’t, but it exists.  “Under this arrangement, employees can work where and whenever they wish, as long as projects are completed on time.”

I’m not sure how that works for the employee but for some employers the situation can be less than beneficial. Forbes recently wrote an article about a company in Maryland who has one telecommuter living/working in New Jersey. New Jersey legislature has stated that one employee in the state of Maryland is sufficient to claim that the company does business there. Now New Jersey is requiring the Maryland firm to file corporate taxes with the state.

It’s quite a disappointment. That law will only hurt efforts to increase telecommuting in the future.

Workshifting

Workshifting is working with a virtual office. It’s not new but it is gaining popularity thanks to technology – webcasts, browser accessed software – and it is becoming an increasingly viable option. Imagine working from these lovely beach houses over the summer instead of your cube.

Every Tuesday morning I workshift. My youngest spends the morning at a small daycare while my four-year-old and I spend time going out to breakfast and playing, then I take him to his swim class. While he is in swim class I drive to a nearby Starbucks and for an hour and fifteen minutes I enjoy a nice cup of cocoa and access the WiFi to do some work. Changing up the surroundings puts me in a better mood and increases my creativity.  And because much of the work I do involves using the web it’s really easy to work anywhere I have a connection.

This web site www.workshifting.com ” features tips, reviews, and opinions about the world of Web commuting (relying on the Web to get work done at any time, from virtually anywhere.) If you work out of coffee shops, hotels, airports and your home every bit as much as the office, workshifting.com is for you.”  I’m going to continue to check it out. And one of these days I hope to be working from a beach house.

I am intrigued by the sexy, futuristic iPad but I’m overwhelmed, too. Long ago I would get excited over the newest iteration of cell phone but now I’m simply getting annoyed by all of this technology.

Last year the netbook was the “it” tech item, with reviewers writing that it would replace the laptop. 

How many gadgets do we need? How many gadgets will marketers get us to purchase?

A desktop computer?

A cellphone?

A laptop?

A netbook?

an iPod?

Blackberry?

iPhone?

iTouch?

Kindle?

iPad?

AAGHHH!

And when the latest gadget comes along what do we do with the old? It’s such a waste.

I await the day not far into the future when we have what my husband has coined “the iWall”. We’ll be able to turn a wall into a giant touch screen and flip through documents and type simply by brushing our fingers across the wall.

So where are all of you telecommuters? Get in touch. I could use some camaraderie in the area.

The findings were published in the Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews.

Control at work, to me , includes the option to telecommute, which may cut down on stress from commuting and can provide more time for family and exercise. Unfortunately “the researchers found no studies of telecommuting or job sharing that met their quality criteria — pointing to a need for more research into those types of work conditions.”

But the study did point out (and somewhat obvious) that “For years, studies have found links between “high job strain” and heightened rates of heart disease, depression and other ills.”  My mother, who recently retired, spent the last twenty years working at a power plant in a desk job. She was a union employee who was given no control over how she handled her work day.  She clocked in and clocked out, so to speak. Over the years her health began to deteriorate slightly prompting her physician to put her on a few medications to combat high cholesterol and reflux. Two months after she retired her cholesterol dropped 60 points. 60 points!!  While her situation is not a scientific study and cannot account for any cumulative affect her medications had on her cholesterol level, her overall happiness is greater because she now has control over her day.