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415892741
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["Workplace 2000," 10/25/91]
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415892741
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["Workplace 2000," 10/25/91]
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13900-010
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Records of the White House Office of Speechwriting (George H. W. Bush Administration)
Tony Snow Subject Files
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Originally Processed With FOIA(s):
FOIA Number:
S
FOIA
MARKER
This is not a textual record. This is used as an
administrative marker by the George Bush Presidential
Library Staff.
Record Group/Collection:
George H.W. Bush Presidential Records
Collection/Office of Origin: Speechwriting, White House Office of
Series:
Snow, Tony, Files
Subseries:
Subject File, 1988-1993
OA/ID Number:
13900
Folder ID Number:
13900-010
Folder Title:
["Workplace 2000," 10/25/91]
Stack:
Row:
Section:
Shelf:
Position:
G
18
29
3
1
RANSPORTATION
WASHINGTON OFFICE:
PEASURY-POSTAL SERVICE-GENERAL
VASHINGTON DC 20515
Congress of the United States
GOVERNMENT
104 CANNON BUILDING
SELECT COMMITTEE
1.
2021 225-5136
house of Representatibes
ON CHILDREN. YOUTH
AND FAMILIES
CONSTITUENT SERVICES OFFICES
'651 OLD MEADOW ROAD
Mashington. DC 20515
SELECT COMMITTEE
SUITE 115
ON HUNGER
MCLEAN VA 22102
COMMISSION ON SECURITY AND
'031 734-1500
"WORKPLACE 2000"
COOPERATION IN EUROPE
? EAST MARKET STREET
LEESBURG VA 22075
-031 777.1422
Statement of Rep. Frank R. Wolf
METRO NUMBER
031 478-1303
October 25, 1991
I want to welcome you this morning to "WORKPLACE 2000." It
is good to see SO many northern Virginia businesses represented
here today and I'm pleased that you all have come together to
learn about profitable ways to help families and businesses
combine in a win-win partnership that can enhance the bottom line
of American business and strengthen our families in the process.
We have some very exciting speakers this morning who will be
exploring how to fit together the pieces in the work/family
puzzle: Earle Williams, one of our region's most innovative
business leaders and president of BDM International, Inc., will
provide brief remarks and introduce our keynote speaker, David
Kearns. Mr. Kearns is the former CEO of Xerox Corporation and
currently the deputy secretary of Education. As a national
business leader and the second-highest ranking official at the
Department of Education, he brings a unique understanding of what
American businesses should be doing today to ensure their overall
competitiveness tomorrow.
After Mr. Kearns' address, Kathleen Matthews, WJLA-TV anchor
and host of "Working Woman" television show, will moderate a
panel discussion on the work-family issues facing our nation's
employers today. As the host of "Working Woman" and the mother
THIS STATIONERY PRINTED ON PAPER MADE OF RECYCLED FIBERS
page 2
of three children, Ms. Matthews brings extensive "real life"
knowledge of the needs of working parents to the panel.
Panelists will include Raymond Smith, chairman and CEO of Bell
Atlantic; Madelyn Jennings, senior vice president of personnel
for Gannett Co.; and Lynn Hayes, co-author of The Best Jobs in
America for Parents. Then we will follow with a. session of
resource groups to provide details on how to implement "family
friendly" policies in the workplace.
As we will hear today, flexible work policies are an
exciting, fluid and creative trend in the public and private
sector. The possibilities are as numerous as there are creative
employees and managers. Bell Atlantic, for example, recently
undertook an extensive telecommuting project from its Arlington,
Virginia, headquarters where some of its employers now work from
the comfort of their homes drafting reports, doing research, and
talking with customers on the phone. Another example of a company
responding to the needs of its employees is Arthur
Andersen/Andersen Consulting. It allows its professional staff
to come back to work part-time after taking a leave of absence
while still participating in a partner track with the firm.
IBM offers a number of flexible arrangement for its
employees as well. For example, employees can take a minimum of
30 minutes or up to a maximum of two hours for a meal break.
With management approval, this window of time in an employee's
workday can be used for such activities as attending a child's
school function or visiting an elderly relative.
page 3
As J.T. Childs, a pioneer in the work/family arena as a
manager at IBM explains, in the 1980s companies were deciding
whether to adopt family friendly policies. Now companies are
asking when and what kind of policies to adopt. When should
companies offer flexible, family friendly work policies? As soon
as they are interested in improving their bottom line. What kind
of policies should they offer? A good place to start is with
what the employees overwhelmingly request: flexibility. As John
Naisbitt, the author of Megatrends explains, "to attract and keep
good people, flexibility must become the watchword of
leadership."
Families today suffer from twin deficits. First, there is
the financial deficit caused by the bigger and bigger tax bite
into the family pie. This in turn causes parents to have to work
longer hours thus creating the "family time" deficit-- parents
spending less time with their children. In Congress I have
devoted my efforts to helping today's hard pressed families by
advocating family tax relief and more family friendly employment
practices so that families will not continually be caught between
a rock and a workplace.
In serving on both the House Post Office and Civil Service
Committee and the Treasury, Postal Service and General Government
Appropriations Subcommittee, over the past several years we have
passed legislation making the federal government a more
pro-family employer.
page 4
Flexitime legislation has been implemented which allows
employees to structure their work week in a manner that provides
for additional family time. More recently, we included in the
Treasury bill language that allows federal agencies to pay
expenses associated with flexiplace, or home-based employment.
We also earmarked money for the Office of Personnel
Management to establish a computerized system to help employees
enter into job-sharing arrangements. Additionally, almost every
agency has now established a leave sharing system so that
seriously ill employees who have exhausted their own annual leave
can receive donated leave from their colleagues.
I have also worked hard to provide on and near-site day care
options for parents in both the government and the private
sector. Such centers can shorten the time that parents are away
from their children and allow them to see them throughout the
day. As a result of language I authored several years ago, there
are now over 70 on-site day care centers for federal employees at
various government agencies throughout the country. These
initiatives have resulted in the government being a more flexible
and responsive employer with regard to family matters.
And what about the bottom line? The Conference Board
reports that almost two-thirds of employers surveyed said that
employees who utilize flexible work arrangments sustained higher
productivity. This same survey found that of the firms that offer
page 5
job sharing, for example, 91 percent are satisfied with
performance levels. Satisfied employers and happier employees
cannot help but improve American competitiveness.
Families today are increasingly viewing their work and
family choices in an overall picture that emphasizes healthy
family life. Many parents want to get off the "fast track" and
find a more "human track" or "family track" where both mothers
and fathers can have a more appropriate work and family balance
without shortchanging their children or failing their employers.
Companies that adopt creative, flexible policies will be on the
"right track" to success for both American business and American
families. Now, it is my pleasure to introduce to you Earle
Williams, one of the leaders of northern Virginia's business
community.