Steps to Achieving Work/Family Benefits

AFSCME affiliates have won work/family programs directly through bargaining as well as through negotiated labor/management work and family committees. Planning and implementing work and family services requires determination, commitment and well-documented research to support the need for such programs.

1. Getting started

Union advocates for work/family programs should begin with the following steps:

• Become familiar with the subject by gathering information from AFSCME, as well as from local resources.
  
  
• Discuss the issue at union meetings and in union newsletters to determine the level of interest among the membership and to educate them. It is essential that members be firmly committed to the issue.
  
  
• Form a work and family committee within the union to put together a report on the needs of the workforce.

2. What union committees should do

Once a union committee is established, this group can begin gathering the information the union will need to design a program tailored to the needs of the workforce and to justify the proposal to the employer.

• Identify the problems members have in balancing work and family responsibilities. These may include difficulty in finding certain types of care, such as infant care or school-age care; paying for quality care; or dealing with an inflexible work schedule or an insensitive supervisor. This information can be gathered through a survey or the committee can arrange focus groups of several parents and caregivers to discuss in detail the problems they are experiencing. This will help the committee understand the range of members’ problems.
  
  
• Identify problems for management. This could include low productivity, absenteeism or tardiness which can be tied to family responsibilities.
  
  
• Review disciplinary actions to determine if the causes were related to child care or eldercare problems. If so, the union can justify the need for family-friendly policies.
  
  
• Document the employer’s culture and environment. For example, what is the employer’s philosophy toward family-friendly benefits and programs? If the employer is resistant to the idea of employer-sponsored support for parents and caregivers, find out why. Is the employer concerned about equity among employees? Does the employer lack evidence that the employees need services based at work? Is the employer worried about the cost?
  
  
• Research the employer’s financial status. Is the employer having financial problems or facing financial uncertainty? Has the employer recently experienced downsizing or reorganization?
  
  
• Identify top management officials who may have child care or eldercare responsibilities. They could become champions of work/family programs.
  
  
• Review the contract and any other employer policies and programs to determine what, if any, programs currently assist parents and caregivers. The following checklist can help.
  
  
• Analyze the information and prepare a report of your findings. It is at this point that the union needs to discuss what strategy it will use in approaching management.
  
  
• Run for a seat on the bargaining committee. The best way to make sure that work/family needs are addressed in bargaining is to be a part of the bargaining team.

3. Negotiating with the employer

There are two ways the union can proceed: 1) decide on specific programs to negotiate for at the next contract negotiations; or 2) negotiate for a joint labor/management work and family committee.

The second option, a joint labor/management committee, can be an effective, cooperative way to develop services for members, especially since many work/family programs can be too complex and time-consuming to develop at the negotiating table.

If you choose the labor/management committee option, it is important that you negotiate strong, enforceable contract language to guide the committee.

The following are some safeguards to build into the contract language:

• The committee should be composed of an equal number of representatives from labor and management. Make clear that management representatives have the authority to make decisions about the committee’s work up to the point of making recommendations.
  
  
• Contract language should include deadlines for appointing union and management representatives to the committee, scheduling the first meeting, and completing the committee’s work. It is best to activate the committee as soon as the contract goes into effect.
  
  
• Contract language also should require that union representatives be allowed to do committee work during work hours.
  
  
• Meetings should be regularly scheduled to ensure continuity. The committee will need to meet more frequently at first, but then the frequency and duration can be determined as needed.
  
  
• Contract language should clearly state that at the end of the committee’s work, some type of program will be established and the date by which this will happen. Be aware that there may be some costs involved in setting up work/family programs. The union may decide to negotiate for a certain amount of money to fund a particular program. If that is the case, then the union must be prepared to demonstrate that members need and want the program and show how it will benefit the employer.

4. The work of a labor/management committee

The labor/management committee’s work typically includes the following steps:

1. Review current literature on work/family issues and talk with other unions or employers who have already been through the process. This will prevent the committee from reinventing the wheel and will provide examples of what can be done.
   
   
2. Survey employees. An employee survey can provide statistical information on the number of employees with child care and/or eldercare needs; illustrate how employees are coping with these responsibilities; identify specific needs; and help determine appropriate programs. In the cover letter to the survey, be careful not to raise expectations beyond what can realistically be delivered. More information is available in the Tips for the Design and Distribution of a Survey section of this guide. 
   
   
3. Identify existing services in the community and determine whether they are adequate, available and affordable. The committee may want to have representatives from the local child care licensing department, child care resource and referral agency, or the Area Agency on Aging speak to the group about possible programs and about what other unions or employers have done in the area.
   
   
4. Realize that not all new benefits require a new program. Review current services, such as employee assistance programs, which could be expanded to meet work and family needs.
   
   
5. Review the committee’s research and decide on the best options to meet the needs of the workforce (see the Work/Family Options and Examples of Contract Language section of this guide).
   
   
6. Determine the cost of the programs by talking to vendors and other area employers who have these programs. If the necessary programs are too costly to implement at one time, phase them in over time.
   
   
7. Once the program (or policy) is established, periodically advertise it and conduct an ongoing evaluation of the program.

Checklist of work/family policies and programs

• Telephone access

  Employees can easily receive calls from or make calls to family members during work hours.
  
  

• Flextime

  Employees may choose daily arrival and departure times as long as they work a set number of hours daily and work during established core hours.
  
  

• Compressed workweek

  Employees may work the normal number of hours in the workweek, such as 40 hours per week, but over fewer days than the normal 5 days. Includes: 4-day week; 3-day week; and nine days in a two-week period.
  
  

• Job sharing

  Two employees (or possibly more) may share a full-time job.
  
  

• Permanent part-time

  If permanent employees choose this work pattern, they are regularly scheduled to work significantly fewer than the specified number of hours of full-time personnel. Benefits should be available on a pro-rated basis; the program should be voluntary.
  
  

• Paid sick leave to care for family members

• Personal leave time

• Family leave

• Right to refuse overtime

  Employees may decline to work overtime hours, particularly without adequate notice, without jeopardizing her/his job.
  
  

• Resource and referral program

  Give employees information about child care and eldercare in the community.  
  
  

• Workplace educational programs

  Seminars, support groups, or care fairs.
  
  

• Employee assistance program

  Provide employees with professional assistance on dealing with child care and/or eldercare issues.
  
  

• Dependent care assistance program

  Allows employees to set aside tax-free money to help pay for child care and/or eldercare expenses.
  
  

• Voucher program

  Employer subsidizes a percentage of the costs of care.
  
  

• Vendor program

  Employer subsidizes cost of child care and/or eldercare by purchasing vacant slots in care centers and offering them to employees at a reduced rate.
  
  

The New York State Labor/Management Child Care Advisory Committee

One of the most comprehensive and effective labor/management committees is the New York State Labor/Management Child Care Advisory Committee (LMCCAC).

The committee was established in 1981 to reduce the rate of unplanned absenteeism and tardiness, improve morale and the quality of work life, recruit and retain employees, and serve as a model and resource to other employers. LMCCAC agreed to open and operate child care centers at, and near, state facilities throughout the state. Today, there are 50 centers serving several thousand children.

Funding is negotiated and then administered through a cooperative joint labor/management effort between the Governor’s Office of Employee Relations and five public employee unions, the largest of which is AFSCME’s Civil Service Employees Association. Total funding for the 1997-1998 budget year is $3.6 million.

In addition to the network of child care centers, LMCCAC implemented a dependent care reimbursement account program and a child care and eldercare resource and referral service. It also administers a Work and Family Initiatives Fund which awards small grants of up to $1,500 to eligible local labor/management committees and network child care centers. The grants are used to conduct seminars on parenting and eldercare, sponsor work and family information fairs, or to set up parent resource areas at the workplace.