Agencies showcase family-friendly programs
Federal agencies got an opportunity to show off their work-life and wellness programs Tuesday at the kickoff for an Office of Personnel Management campaign aimed at bringing attention to such efforts.
Stressing the effect that family-friendly programs have on employee performance, morale and service, several agencies shared their worklife programs with employees from other agencies, detailing how programs were initiated, sharing data and offering testimonials from employees as to how they benefited from the programs.
More than five years ago, the Clinton administration pushed agencies to establish programs to make it easier for workers to balance their home and work lives. A recent OPM study, however, showed that reluctant managers have prevented the programs from flourishing. To encourage use of the initiatives, OPM opened a new center in Washington dedicated solely to providing information about family-friendly workplace programs in 1999.
The 13 family-friendly arrangements available to federal workers include: family and medical leave, sick leave for family care, employee assistance programs, leave transfer, part-time employment, flexible work schedules, referral services for child and elder care, compressed work schedules, telecommuting, fare subsidies, job sharing, child care centers and leave banks.
During Tuesday's workshop Mary Watts, a Social Security Administration employee, said she took in six of her grandchildren after drugs rendered her daughter unable to care for them. Watts had audience members alternating between laughter and tears as she detailed how her agency's Grandparents Raising Grandchildren organization helped her deal with the situation.
According to Patricia Kinney, OPM's Office of Work/Life Programs director, employee production increased 50 percent because of family-friendly program at her agency.
"The federal government is paying lots of attention to the fact that we need support to help us be the best workforce we can be," Kinney said.
Some of the programs highlighted during the program included OPM's child care subsidy program, where qualified employees can get up to 30 percent of their child care costs supplemented by their agency. A stress reduction lab at the Department of Labor helps employees deal with day-to-day pressures.
The next phase for family-friendly programs is training for managers to make them more aware of how the programs can benefit their agencies. Employee outreach is another goal.
"It is not enough to have them go to a brown bag lunch program, you have to go out and you have to talk to them," said Liz Stepanek of the Defense Supply Center in Richmond.