The White House Summit on Working Families, held on June 23, 2014, emphasized the importance of family-friendly work policies that benefit both businesses and employees. Key discussions included promoting a reason-neutral approach to flexible work arrangements and accountability for managers in achieving work-life balance goals. The summit called for legislative action to address gaps in working family policies, particularly regarding paid maternity leave and minimum wage.

1. White House Summit on Working
Families
June 23, 2014

2. On June 23, 2014, Kyra Cavanaugh attended a
national summit in Washington D.C.
(These are a few of her tweets and notes.)

3. Why do employers have to be "understanding"?
Wrong approach! It's about how working family
policies can help biz succeed! #Familiessucceed
We’re a little sensitive
about calling flexible work
an employee
“accommodation.”
Instead of framing family-
friendly policies as a
specialfavor,organizations
need work practices that
match the realities of
today’s workforce.

5. Veep is for reason-neutral
#workflex "employees shouldn't
have to give me a reason—just
go!" #Familiessucceed
@whitehouse
If you've worked with us, you've
probably heard us to talk about
a reason-neutral approach.
Here’s the skinny: Evaluating
employee requests for
flexibility based on a personal
reasons is old school and
exposes the company to legal
concerns and morale issues.
Review flexible work requests
based solely on business
implications.

6. Employers want reliable workers. They are
reliable when they have a reliable way of
managing the rest of their lives.
#Familiessucceed
Work-life experts use the
term "effective workplaces."
It refers to realistic work
patterns that meet the needs
of both employers and
employees.
If you have high turnover or
absenteeism issues,
consider whether ineffective
work policies could be the
real issue.

7. EY CEO: We measure improvement in
#workflex – no improvement?
Consequences. We reward high perf.
teams for enabling flex.
This is a piece of advice we
often share with clients.
Policies alone aren't
effective. You need to hold
managers accountable for
meeting work-life goals. Use
your employee engagement
survey as a measurement
tool or track flexibility as a
part of exit surveys.

8. RT @crisagu @GloriaSteinem: Let's catch up
to 40% EU mandate for women on boards.
US lags at 16% #FamiliesSucceed

9. Bob Moritz U.S. Chairman and Senior Partner of PWC:
"Some companies get it. Others don’t see trends and think there’s an
abundance of talent."
"Difference between Yers and Boomers re: #workflex...Y’s will walk
out the door."

10. Maria Shriver:
"I don’t know why we don’t
have working family
policies. What is Congress
doing?"

11. Things Kyra would have tweeted
during President Obama's
session...
If she hadn't run out of juice.

12. If Congress won’t do it, then Mayors, Govs, Unions &
CEOs have to

13. PassthePregnant Workers
FairnessAct.
Many women can’t get pd day off
to give birth...that’s a pretty low bar
US-only country that
doesn’t offer
paid maternity leave
to all
JetBlue offered 5 mos pd leave,
reduced turnover of women by 50%

14. 13 states taking steps to raise minimum wage on their own

15. Word on the street-this was a very uplifting
day, but movements take time. Celebrate
victories & push forward. @FLOTUS
#FamiliesSucceed

16. Preparing you for the future of work

17. @lifemeetswork
www.lifemeeetswork.com
1-847-825-5691