Questions and Answers on Family Friendly Workplace Initiatives

Q. What responsibilities will the new family-friendly program coordinator undertake?

A. The new family-friendly program coordinators will--

• Promote the use of family-friendly initiatives within their agencies;
• Work with managers and supervisors to encourage the implementation of family-friendly workplace policies;
• Provide technical assistance to employees and supervisors on various family-friendly initiatives and ensure that information on the full range of flexibilities (e.g., child care, alternative work schedules, telecommuting, part-time employment, and job sharing) is available to help employees meet their personal and family responsibilities;
• Establish and promote parent support groups, elder care support groups, and on-site nursing mothers programs;
• Provide training and resources for managers on the implementation of family-friendly policies;
• Provide employees with information about child and elder care resources currently available in their local communities;
• Work with local interagency groups, such as Federal Executive Boards to coordinate Federal and community resources; and
• Represent their agencies on OPM's Interagency Family Friendly Workplace Working Group.

Q. Would the requirement to have family-friendly work/life coordinators cause agencies to establish new jobs?

A. Typically, this would not require the creation of a new position, but would require the identification of an agency point of contact for their employees. Many agencies have already identified employees who are assigned collateral duties for some family-friendly work/life programs, such as child care, and their duties might be expanded. Some large agencies already have full-time work/life specialists (e.g., Social Security Administration, Department of Transportation, Department of Health and Human Services, and Department of Defense).

Q. Who will be on the Working Group?

A. Each executive department and agency family-friendly work/life coordinator will be invited to be a member of the Working Group. The Working Group will also include union representation, making this family-friendly effort a true labor-management partnership.

Q. What will be the role of the new Working Group?

A. The Working Group will promote the implementation of family-friendly initiatives throughout the Federal Government. Through the Working Group, information about best practices, overcoming barriers, and successful projects will be shared. The agency family-friendly coordinators will be able to successfully network with each other and to facilitate OPM's work/life mentoring program.

Q. What role will OPM's Family Friendly Workplace Advocacy Office play?

A. The new Family Friendly Workplace Advocacy Office (FFWAO), which was established on March 1, 1999, will provide the family-friendly program coordinators with the tools and advice necessary to establish or improve comprehensive family-friendly programs. In addition, the FFWAO will aggressively support the use of flexible work arrangements, including alternative work schedules, family-friendly leave options, part-time employment, job sharing, telecommuting, Employee Assistance Programs, on-site child development centers, and child and elder care services. The FFWAO will serve as the Government's repository of information for family-friendly practices.

• To Attachment 1 - President's Memorandum on Work and Family
• To Compensation Administration Home Page

Last Modified: 2:52:38 PM on Thursday, September 04, 2003