Upjohn Press Upjohn Research home page 1-1-1981 Work Sharing: Case Studies Maureen E. McCarthy Gail S. Rosenberg National Council for Alternative Work Patterns Gary Lefkowitz Lieb, Lefkowitz and Associates Follow this and additional works at: https://research.upjohn.org/up_press Part of the Labor Economics Commons Citation McCarthy, Maureen E., and Gail S. Rosenberg. 1981. Work Sharing: Case Studies. Kalamazoo, MI: W.E. Upjohn Institute for Employment Research. https://doi.org/10.17848/9780880996259 This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 4.0 License. This title is brought to you by the Upjohn Institute. For more information, please contact [email protected]. J WORK SHARING V Maureen E. McCarthy Gail S. Rosenberg With assistance from Gary Lef kowitz WORK SHARING CASE STUDIES Maureen E. McCarthy Gall S. Rosenberg With assistance from Gary Lefkowitz The material in this project was prepared under Contract No. 21-11-79-17 from the Employment and Training Ad ministration, U.S. Department of Labor, under the authority of Title III, part B, of the Comprehensive Employment and Training Act of 1973. Researchers undertaking such projects under Government sponsorship are encouraged to express freely their professional judgment. Therefore, points of view or opinions stated in this document do not necessarily repre sent the official position or policy of the Department of Labor. The W.E. Upjohn Institute for Employment Research Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data McCarthy, Maureen E. Work sharing case studies. Bibliography: p. 1. Work sharing United States Case studies. I. Rosenberg, Gail S. II. Lefkowitz, Gary. III. W.E. Upjohn Institute for Employment Research. IV. Title. HD5110.6.U6M35 331.25©72 81-15943 ISBN 0-911558-87-X AACR2 ISBN 0-911558-88-8 (pbk.) Copyright 1981 by the W. E. UPJOHN INSTITUTE FOR EMPLOYMENT RESEARCH 300 South Westnedge Ave. Kalamazoo, Michigan 49007 THE INSTITUTE, a nonprofit research organization, was established on July 1, 1945. It is an activity of the W. E. Upjohn Unemployment Trustee Corporation, which was formed in 1932 to administer a fund set aside by the late Dr. W. E. Upjohn for the purpose of carrying on "research into the causes and effects of unemployment and measures for the alleviation of unemployment." Reproduction by the U.S. Government in whole or in part is permitted for any purpose. The Board of Trustees of the W. E. Upjohn Unemployment Trustee Corporation Preston S. Parish, Chairman Mrs. Ray T. Parfet, Vice Chairman Charles C. Gibbons, Vice Chairman D. Gordon Knapp, Secretary-Treasurer E. Gifford Upjohn, M.D. Mrs. Genevieve U. Gilmore James H. Duncan John T. Bernhard The Staff of the Institute E. Earl Wright, Director Saul J. Blaustein Judith K. Brawer Phyllis Buskirk H. Allan Hunt Timothy L. Hunt John R. Mekemson Jo Bentley Reece Robert A. Straits Wayne R. Wendling Jack R. Woods in DEDICATIONS To my family and friends who share their work and their love. M.E.M. To my husband Michael and our children Jeremy and Rebecca who make work sharing a valued option at this time of my life. G.S.R. AUTHORS Maureen E. McCarthy is an independent consultant based in Columbia, Maryland, working with clients in the public and private sector in the design and implementation of new work patterns. Her current research interest is the impact of new office technology on work effectiveness and the development of motivational work design. Ms. McCarthy was formerly vice president of the National Council for Alternative Work Patterns. She served as a con sultant to the U.S. Department of Labor on an exploratory survey of short-time compensation and to the American Association of Retired Persons on flexible retirement op tions. She also was an advisor to a Department of Energy project examining the impact of alternative work patterns on energy and transportation. Ms. McCarthy has published ar ticles in Aging and Work, Personnel Administration, and In dustrial Engineering. Gail S. Rosenberg is president of the National Council for Alternative Work Patterns. She was a consultant to the Department of Labor study on short-time compensation and the American Association of Retired Persons on flexible retirement options. She is a member of the Task Force on Alternative Work Patterns of the Work in America Institute. Ms. Rosenberg edited the Alternative Work Schedule Directory (1978), co-authored a study on phased retirement experiments for the Summer 1980 issue of Aging and Work, Vll and is past editor and current contributor to the NCA WP Newsletter. Her article on supervisory part-time federal employees appeared in the Washington Post in February 1980. Gary Lefkowitz is president of Lieb, Lefkowitz and Associates, Inc., a firm which specializes in developing human resources at the workplace. He is also an Adjunct Lecturer in Labor Relations and Work Improvement in the Harriman College graduate program of the State University of New York at Stony Brook. Vlll ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS A number of people provided information and support for this book. We are most indebted to our colleagues at the Na tional Council for Alternative Work Patterns, Marion C. Long, who served as the project research coordinator, and Susan W. Post, the project administrator. Dr. Fred Best, whose extensive research on flexible life scheduling served as the springboard for our work, provided strong encourage ment for us to undertake the project. We are grateful to Dr. Burt Barnow, acting director, Of fice of Research and Development, Office of Policy Evalua tion and Research, Employment and Training Administra tion, U.S. Department of Labor, for awarding a grant to the National Council for Alternative Work Patterns to study work sharing in American organizations. Our project of ficer, Dr. Tom Joyce, was accessible and knowledgeable, and made many helpful suggestions regarding content. Our special thanks are extended to Dr. E. Earl Wright, director of the W.E. Upjohn Institute for Employment Research, for his direction and encouragement in preparing this publication. He has had the foresight to examine work sharing from a variety of approaches in the W.E. Upjohn In stitute series. Several people contributed their special resources. Dr. Stanley Cohen from the Office of Personnel Management advised us on research methodology. Dr. Erica King served as consultant on the survey design. Gwen Wooley, Dr. Bar bara Crispin, Nancy Inui, Barbara Metcalf, and Randi Bob- man assisted in the literature search and company identifica tion process throughout the country. Susan Powell designed the questionnaire format and coordinated its production. IX Those who generously gave technical advice and shared ideas on the survey instrument are: David Arnold, National Governors© Association; William Batt, U.S. Department of Labor; Dr. Robert Bednarzik, Bureau of Labor Statistics; Joseph Cahalan, Xerox Corporation; Patsy Fryman, Com munications Workers of America; Jim Harvey, Varian Associates; Dr. Janice Hedges, Bureau of Labor Statistics; Gladys Henrikson, consultant; Nadeanne Herrell, American Telephone and Telegraph; Linda Ittner, staff, U.S. House of Representatives Subcommittee on Civil Service; Ronna Klingenberg, American Council on Life Insurance; Virginia Martin, consultant; Oscar Mueller, U.S. Department of the Interior; Dr. Stanley Nollen, Georgetown University; Joseph Perkins, Polaroid Corporation; Robert Rosenberg, Califor nia State Office of Research; Frank Schiff, Committee for Economic Development; Rita Williams, ALZA Corpora tion; Jacques Wimpheimer, American Velvet; John Zalusky, AFL-CIO; and Bernard Zwinak, American Federation of Government Employees. Special recognition is due Sherrell Varner who provided invaluable comments on organization and presentation. We thank Dr. Constance Swank for making information available on her forthcoming publication and for her en couragement. And we want to thank Judy Brawer, our capable editor at the Upjohn Institute, for her thoroughness and good humor. Above all, we want to give special thanks to the many ex ecutives, officers, and staff people from companies, agen cies, unions, and legislative offices who provided us with the information that serves as the heart of this book. While we take full responsibility for the content of the book, we are grateful to all these people for their contribu tions. M.E.M. G.S.R. FOREWORD Private sector employers have expressed a need for prac tical, concrete information to determine the viability of work sharing as a way of meeting the changing goals and objec tives of the organization and its employees. Work Sharing Case Studies responds to that need by presenting 36 cases in which the various forms of work sharing have been adopted. Work sharing approaches described in the case studies represent a broad range of organizations from Fortune 500 companies to small, family-owned firms. They were design ed to meet a variety of specific corporate needs: to avoid lay offs, adjust to skill shortages, prevent employee burnout, adapt to changes in the workforce, achieve production flex ibility, and recruit and retain valued employees. The infor mation should be of value to business, union, and govern ment officials in understanding the legislative and public policy implications of work sharing. Facts and observations as presented in this monograph are the sole responsibility of the authors. Their viewpoints do not necessarily represent positions of the W.E. Upjohn In stitute for Employment Research. E. Earl Wright Director Kalamazoo,