The Women’s Bureau has a strong record of outreach to local employers promoting policies and practices that benefit working women. This outreach has included promotion of flexible work policies across the country.

Promoting work-life balance, including flexible workplace polices, is one of the many ways the Women’s Bureau will improve working conditions and promote economic security for all working women.

This initiative also plays a key role in the strategy implemented by Women’s Bureau Director Sara Manzano-Díaz for achieving Secretary Solis’ vision of “Good Jobs for Everyone” through focused efforts on four priority areas including workplace flexibility, equal pay, higher-paying jobs for women, and supporting women veterans who are homeless.

The Bureau will organize and host a National Dialogue on Workplace Flexibility across the country to build on the message and momentum from the March 2010 White House Flexibility Forum. The Bureau’s events will model the White House’s event and include participants from the business community, advocates, researchers, union leaders, government agencies, and employees.

The purpose of the events are to:

• Raise awareness and exchange best practices, real stories and the newest research on the impact of workplace flexibility.
• Expand the knowledge base and base of support on flexibility by reaching out to new partners and stakeholders.
• Stimulate dialogue among employers and business owners on making flexibility work.

We want to highlight and acknowledge the efforts of employers and advocates who have taken on the challenge of assuring high quality work-life environments for working families. Many employers realize the benefit to both their business and the lives of their employees, but we still have a long way to go in fostering and creating workplaces that support and acknowledge the realities of workers’ lives, including family care-giving. This is not just a women’s issue, but an issue that affects our families, businesses, and the economy.