Eighty-three percent of federal employees “report that their professional and personal and/or family life needs interfere with each other to some degree,” OPM has said in a report advocating that agencies make more use of programs to help them achieve more balance.
“Agencies should continually evaluate current employee needs, policies, practices, and organizational culture to identify unnecessary barriers to program participation and to maximize agency and employee benefits,” it said in a report.
A survey conducted last year showed that 35 percent of federal employees telework but 58 percent desire to. The same was true of work schedule flexibilities (54/83), employee assistance programs (13/55), family and dependent care (29/63) and health and wellness programs (66/84).
Among work-life balance programs, managerial resistance has long been cited as a main hindrance to greater use of telework. Twelve percent of those who do not telework agreed that the reason is “I did not receive approval to do so, even though I am eligible for telework.” (The report did not address the related issue of management limiting how many days that those who do telework can spend away from the regular worksite. But it did find that only 11 percent of employees telework on a regular schedule while 15 percent telework only in special situations and 9 percent telework both ways.)
The survey found that managerial resistance is a factor regarding the other programs, as well. “The most commonly reported reasons that employees do not participate in work-life programs include: lack of senior leadership and supervisory support; lack of program awareness among employees and supervisors; and agency policies that limit program participation,” the report said.
It said that while 82 percent of employees report their immediate super¬visor is responsive to their personal or family needs, and 66 percent agree their supervisor understands personal or family issues, only 46 percent perceive support for work-life balance from their supervisor and only 35 percent perceive support from senior leadership.
OPM also said that 46 percent of employees report having some form of family or dependent care responsibilities (36 percent for children and 14 percent for parents/other adults, with some providing for both categories). In five years, the rate of child care needs is expected to remain about steady, falling to 33 percent, but the rate of adult care is expected to more than double to 31 percent.
