This September 2006 issue features:

• Updated program information on the September WorldatWork, AWLP and ITAC Telework Conference and Federal Interagency Workshop
• New work at home date from the U.S. Census
• What older Americans want from work – flexibility.

These and other news items are written in detail below.

Conference is designed for managers and executives from businesses and government agencies responsible for their employer's flexible work and telework programs and policies as part of their overall work-life and total rewards initiatives.

The Conference is being held on September 26, 2006, at the George Washington University Conference Center in Washington, DC. The Conference Center is conveniently located at 800 21st Street, NW, near the Foggy Bottom Metro Station.

The General Conference will begin 7:30am in the morning with a networking breakfast to meet the sponsors and is open to all registrants. Conference topics will include Metrics of Telework - Calculating Technology, Employee Productivity and Operational Benefits, and Incorporating Telework into Your Organization's Flexible Work Portfolio. Joel Ratekin, Workplace Strategy, Planning and Analysis, Capital One Corporation will open the conference to discuss how at his company telework has gone from Swimming Up Stream to Going Mainstream.

A Federal Interagency Telework Polices Workshop will be held in the afternoon. The workshop is being hosted by GSA and is open only to employees of the U.S. Government who register for the General Conference. The workshop includes lunch and is included at no additional charge for Federal employees registered for the Conference. Workshop will include a presentation from the IRS that will discuss their efforts to continue operations after their headquarters was flooded in late June and then closed until early next year

Joining U.S. General Services Administration (GSA) and the Washington Metropolitan Telework Centers as sponsors are Runzheimer International, The Telework Exchange and Citrix. A few sponsorship opportunities still exist.

Questions about the Conference should be directed to Bob Smith at [email protected].

NOMINATIONS CLOSE SEPT 15 FOR ALWP WORK-LIFE INNOVATIVE EXCELLENCE AWARDS
The AWLP Work-Life Innovative Excellence Award presents an opportunity to showcase your organization's efforts to create healthy work environments that support personal life and family issues. They demonstrate your company's interests and achievements in looking beyond organizational, cultural and demographic boundaries to achieve outstanding results in addressing employee and business/organizational needs. Go to http://www.awlp.org/ for details.

SUBMISSIONS FOR WORKSHOP PRESENTATIONS AT 2007 WORLDATWORK ANNUAL CONFERENCE NOW OPEN
WorldatWork is now taking proposals for workshops at its Annual Conference that is being held from May 6 -9 in Orlando, Fl. Submission deadline is October 2, 2006. For further details go to http://www.worldatwork.org/callforpresentations/.

The overall nation's daily commuting average was reduced from 25.5 minutes in 2001 to 25.1 minutes in 2005; there are still many areas that experience over an hour roundtrip. The top three are:

• The Vineland, N.J., metropolitan area, about 40 miles south of Philadelphia, 39.6 minutes,
• New York City at 34.2 minutes,
• Washington, DC at 33.2 minutes.

Other interesting findings were that share of people driving alone to work increased from 75.7% in 2001 to 77% in 2005. People carpooling declined from 12.2% to 10.7%.

On people working from home, the share increased from 3.3% (4.2 million) in 2000 to 3.6% (4.8 million) in 2005. People surveyed were asked where did you work the last week. If a person worked in more than one place, then they were asked to list where they worked the most during that week. One unique feature of this survey is that it measures the number of people working from home at 502 different metropolitan areas in the U.S.

To obtain this work at home table by metropolitan area, go to http://www.workingfromanywhere.org/resources/index.htm.

OPM ANNOUNCES NEW TELEWORK GUIDE THAT INCLUDES PANDEMIC
The U.S. Office of Personnel Management has updated its Telework Guide and online training courses for managers and employees. These federal resources contain information and guidance on the use of telework during a pandemic or COOP event. The update is in response to the White House directive in the National Strategy for Pandemic Influenza Implementation Plan. For more details please go to www.telework.gov .

Also available from ITAC is its 2005 Research Report, "Exploring Telework as a Business Continuity Strategy." The report is available as a free download from the ITAC web site at http://www.workingfromanywhere.org/telework/twaresearch.htm.

Hudson further reported that 38% of the people surveyed work from home at least once a week. In addition 29% of employees work from home more than once a week, but this figure rises to 40% among workers with children at home.

The survey is based on a national poll of 1,911 U. S. workers. For more details on the survey please go to www.hudson.com.

FLEXIBILITY IMPORTANT TO AGING WORKFORCE
According to AARP, the number of workers age 55 and over will increase to almost 20% of all workers during the coming decades. In fact, the number of workers age 55 to 64 will grow the most of any labor force group in the U.S. This result will mostly be due to the large numbers of baby boomers.

At the same time, the generations coming after the boomers are much smaller in number. This means fewer workers to replace boomers who retire or change jobs. And that, in turn, will bring a future of more jobs than workers.

Based on AARP surveys, older Americans want to continue to work:

• Nearly 70% of pre-retirees plan to work at least part-time in the so-called retirement years, or never retire.
• Almost half foresee working into their 70s or beyond.
• Needing money is the top reason for pre- and working retirees to work in retirement.
• More than two-thirds also want to work to stay active, be useful, and have fun.

Balancing work and home is an important objective as:

• 70% are looking for ways to better balance work and personal life.
• Major life and family changes occurred for 20-30% in the last 5 years.
• More than one-third gives care to a spouse, parent, grandchild, or others.
• African American, Asian American, and Hispanic workers are responsible for more care giving and have had more life and family changes than others.

For more details, go to AARP's Employer Resource Center at http://www.aarp.org/money/careers/employerresourcecenter/