Enhancing Workplace Flexibilities and Work-Life Programs

[Federal Register Volume 79, Number 124 (Friday, June 27, 2014)]
[Presidential Documents]
[Pages 36625-36628]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2014-15334]

Vol. 79

Friday,

No. 124

June 27, 2014

Part III

The President

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Memorandum of June 23, 2014--Enhancing Workplace Flexibilities and
Work-Life Programs

___________________________________________________________________

Title 3--
The President

Memorandum of June 23, 2014

Enhancing Workplace Flexibilities and Work-Life
Programs

Memorandum for the Heads of Executive Departments and
Agencies

To attract, empower, and retain a talented and
productive workforce in the 21st century, the Federal
Government must continue to make progress in enabling
employees to balance their responsibilities at work and
at home. We should build on our record of leadership
through better education and training, expanded
availability of workplace flexibilities and work-life
programs, as appropriate, and improved tracking of
outcomes and accountability. In doing so, we can help
ensure that the Federal workforce is engaged and
empowered to deliver exceptional and efficient service
to the American public while meeting family and other
needs at home.

Therefore, it is the policy of the Federal Government
to promote a culture in which managers and employees
understand the workplace flexibilities and work-life
programs available to them and how these measures can
improve agency productivity and employee engagement.
The Federal Government must also identify and eliminate
any arbitrary or unnecessary barriers or limitations to
the use of these flexibilities and develop new
strategies consistent with statute and agency mission
to foster a more balanced workplace.

By the authority vested in me as President by the
Constitution and the laws of the United States of
America, and in order to support executive departments
and agencies (agencies) in their efforts to better
utilize existing and develop new workplace
flexibilities and work-life programs, I hereby direct
as follows:

Section 1. Right to Request Work Schedule
Flexibilities. (a) Agencies shall make Federal
employees aware, on a periodic basis, that they have
the right to request work schedule flexibilities
available to them under law, pursuant to an applicable
collective bargaining agreement, or under agency
policy, without fear of retaliation or adverse
employment action as a consequence of making such a
request.

(b) To facilitate conversations about work schedule
flexibilities, each agency shall review, and if
necessary amend or establish, procedures within 120
days of the date of this memorandum. Subject to
collective bargaining agreements, agency procedures
must provide:

(i) employees an ability to request work schedule flexibilities, including
telework, part-time employment, or job sharing;

(ii) that, upon receipt of such requests, supervisors (or their designees)
should meet or confer directly with the requesting employee as appropriate
to understand fully the nature and need for the requested flexibility;

(iii) that supervisors must consider the request and supporting information
carefully and respond within 20 business days of the initial request, or
sooner if required by agency policy; and

(iv) that the agency should remind employees on a periodic basis of the
workplace flexibilities available to them.

(c) The Director of the Office of Personnel
Management (OPM) shall issue guidance to Chief Human
Capital Officers regarding the requirements set forth
in this section within 60 days of the date of this
memorandum, and shall assist agencies with
implementation of this section.

(d) Nothing in this section shall be construed to
impair or otherwise affect the discretion granted to an
employee's supervisor in making a decision on the
request for work schedule flexibilities, in accordance
with the agency's mission-related requirements.

Sec. 2. Expanding Access to Workplace Flexibilities.
Agency heads shall ensure that the following workplace
flexibilities are available to the maximum extent
practicable, in accordance with the laws and
regulations governing these programs and consistent
with mission needs:

(a) part-time employment and job sharing, including
for temporary periods of time where appropriate;
(b) alternative work schedules, including assurance
that core hours are limited only to those hours that
are necessary;
(c) break times for nursing mothers and a private
space to express milk;
(d) telework;
(e) annual leave and sick leave, including the
advancement of leave for employee and family care
situations;
(f) sick leave for family care and bereavement;
(g) sick leave to care for a family member with a
serious health condition;
(h) sick leave for adoption;
(i) leave pursuant to the Family and Medical Leave
Act (FMLA), including allowing employees to take their
FMLA leave intermittently as allowed under the Act,
including for childbirth, adoption, and foster care;
(j) leave transfer programs, including leave banks;
(k) bone marrow and organ donor leave; and
(l) leave policies related to domestic violence,
sexual assault, and stalking situations.

Sec. 3. Expanding Availability and Encouraging Use of
Work-Life Programs. Agency heads are encouraged to take
steps to increase the availability and use of the
following work-life programs to the maximum extent
practicable:

(a) dependent care programs, including the
availability of on-site child care, child care
subsidies, emergency child care, and elder care;
(b) Employee Assistance Programs, including
counseling, resources, and referrals;
(c) support for nursing mothers, including worksite
lactation support programs and resources; and
(d) worksite health and wellness programs, and
opportunities to utilize those resources.

Sec. 4. Helping Agencies Encourage the Use of Workplace
Flexibilities and Work-Life Programs. The Director of
OPM (Director) shall work with agencies to:

(a) provide appropriate education and guidance to
all agency employees, including managers and
supervisors, on the use of workplace flexibilities and
work-life programs as strategic tools to assist with
the recruitment and retention of employees, with an
emphasis on furthering positive outcomes for employees
and the agency that result from optimizing their use;
(b) support agencies in their efforts to develop
training programs that educate employees, managers, and
supervisors about the resources that are available to
meet work-life needs;
(c) support agencies in promoting workplace
cultures in which workplace flexibilities and work-life
programs are a standard part of operating procedures,
and identify any arbitrary, unnecessary, or cultural
barriers limiting use;
(d) review the Federal Employee Viewpoint Survey
data related to supervisor and senior leadership
support for work-life, as well as use and satisfaction
with alternative work schedules, telework, and work-
life programs;

(e) implement the President's Management Agenda
efforts in a manner that improves Senior Executive
Service focus on creating inclusive work environments
where workplace flexibilities and work-life programs
are used effectively;
(f) create, annually update, and electronically
publish a Workplace Flexibility Index using data from
the Federal Employee Viewpoint Survey, reporting
required by the Telework Enhancement Act of 2010, and
other appropriate measures of agencies' effective use
of workplace flexibilities;
(g) within 120 days from receipt of the agency
reports submitted pursuant to section 5 of this
memorandum, prepare a report to the President that
includes information on agency best practices with
regard to the use of workplace flexibilities, any
barriers to or limitations that may unnecessarily
restrict the use of existing workplace flexibilities
and work-life programs, recommendations for addressing
or eliminating such barriers or limitations, proposals
for future data reporting, and metrics for tracking the
use and cost-benefit of work-life programs; and
(h) review, for the purpose of identifying relevant
trends related to workplace flexibility issues, the
annual report that agencies provide to OPM under the No
FEAR Act, which includes the agency's analysis of
violations of antidiscrimination and whistleblower
laws, an examination of trends, causal analysis,
practical knowledge gained through experience, and any
actions planned or taken to improve programs within the
agency.

Sec. 5. Agency Review of Workplace Flexibilities and
Work-Life Policies and Programs. Within 120 days of the
date of the issuance of guidance pursuant to section
1(c) of this memorandum, each agency shall review its
workplace flexibilities and work-life policies and
programs to assess whether they are being effectively
used to the maximum extent practicable and submit a
report to OPM that includes:

(a) any best practices the agency has employed to
create a culture and work environment that supports the
productive and efficient use of workplace flexibilities
and work-life programs; and
(b) any barriers to or limitations that may
unnecessarily restrict the use of existing workplace
flexibilities and work-life programs and
recommendations for addressing or eliminating such
barriers or limitations.

Sec. 6.  General Provisions. (a) Nothing in this
memorandum shall be construed to impair or otherwise
affect:

(i) the authority granted by law or Executive Order to an agency, or the
head thereof; or

(ii) the functions of the Director of the Office of Management and Budget
relating to budgetary, administrative, or legislative proposals.

(b) This memorandum shall be implemented consistent
with applicable law and subject to the availability of
appropriations.
(c) This memorandum is not intended to, and does
not, create any right or benefit, substantive or
procedural, enforceable at law or in equity by any
party against the United States, its departments,
agencies, or entities, its officers, employees, or
agents, or any other person.

(d) The Director is hereby authorized and directed
to publish this memorandum in the Federal Register.

THE WHITE HOUSE,

Washington, June 23, 2014