The Family Responsible Employer Index (IFREI) 2005, an exhaustive survey of Spanish companies and the implementation of best practices in work schedule flexibility, is soon-to-be-published by the Community of Madrid.  Drawing on research of over 1,000 Spanish companies, the IFREI not only directs policy debate in academia and government, it is also a practical guide for corporate management in benefiting from family-responsibility. 

This year’s IFREI summarizes progress from 1999 to 2005.
It clearly outlines key flexibility policies and explains the drivers and hindrances to developing a family responsible culture and obtaining the resulting benefits.  The IFREI 2005 describes how six leading companies have successfully created the culture family responsible enterprise and are reaping the benefits in terms of employee productivity and, in turn, profits. 

To read more, please click here (PDF, 1584 Kb)
To download the entire report, please click here

In December, 2005, the Fundación Independiente and the International Center of Work and Family, with the sponsorship of INAP, jointly published a significant contribution to the current debate in the form of a white paper entitled ¨Foundations for the Rationalization of Spanish Timetables

This analysis explores the difference between the Spanish and European timetables, how the current disconnect between Spanish daily reality and the timetables adds to current social problems and presents recommendations to alleviate the negative effects.   The study examines the causes of Spain's current time conflict and explores the advantages of a new, more productive European-style timetable, more in keeping with Spain's modern business, social and personal reality. 

To read more, please click here (PDF, 1457 Kb)
To download the entire report, please click here

The “2nd International Symposium on Women, Business and Society in the 21st century”, organized by the International Center for Work and Family, will take place on April 3, 2006 at the IESE Campus in Madrid. 

The theme for this year’s Symposium is “Leading Change,” and will bring together business, academic and political leaders from Spain and across the globe to discuss the obstacles and challenges that women face today, and what needs to be done to make a permanent and lasting change in the way women live and work.

To learn more about the Symposium, click here
To register for the Symposium, click here

The British government has recently stated its plans to extend entitlement to maternity pay from six months to nine months from April 2007, with the aim of increasing it to a year by the end of this parliament.  The intention is to increase support for working mothers.  In an interview, Chancellor Gordon Brown said: "It is our duty to look at how we can help parents trying to balance work and family life."

To read more please click here. (PDF, 377 Kb)

Putzmeister Iberica produces machinery for the highly competitive construction sector, and is recognized as a leader among Spanish companies as a Family Responsible Enterprise.

The company’s management recognized a desperate need to attract and retain skilled workers, and to retain these workers throughout an extended and expensive training period. Putzmeister‘s bottom line was affected by employee turnover and by a lack of skilled available employees in a highly competitive labor market, normally dominated by men. 

So they shifted strategy – instead of fighting for the same traditional labor pool, they could attract, train and retain committed female employees.  Their strategy has paid off; by offering family responsible policies to all employees, their retention rates have risen along with dramatic growth in their returns.   

To read more, please click here (PDF, 126 Kb)

A simple series of questions designed to inform management about the extent of family-responsibility policies and practices in the workplace.   It is a useful tool to assess the positive benefits of the existing culture and to guide strategic human resource planning in the medium- and long-term. It is also useful for professionals to determine the family-responsibility culture of their present or future employer, and help individuals choose an employer committed to the profits of work and family balance. 

To read more, click here (PDF, 1275 Kb)

Dr. Ellen Galinsky is President and Co-Founder of Families and Work Institute (FWI), a Manhattan-based non-profit organization that conducts research on the changing family, changing workforce and changing community, and plays a lead role in moving the discussion of these topics forward.  Dr. Galinsky participated in the International Research in Work and Family – from Policy to Practice, which took place in Barcelona, Spain, July 7 – 9, 2005 and outlined her recent findings about employment trends in the United States.