United States Department of the Interior                                        FISH AND WILDLIFE SERVICE                                                     Washington, D.C. 20240

Memorandum
 
 

To:	Service Directorate  Regional Personnel Officers, Regions 1 - 7  Chief, Branch of Headquarters Personnel Operations
From:	Deputy Director                   /s/ John G. Rogers
Subject:	Service Work/Life Initiative

 
At our Fall 1998 Directorate Meeting it was determined that each Region would develop a Regional Work/Life Implementation Plan. It was agreed that we would reassess our Work/Life programs in one year.

The attached document summarizes the Work/Life programs available Servicewide, I encourage you to carefully review the programs and continue to add new initiatives for your employees, where appropriate.

A follow-up survey will be conducted in the future to determine where the Service stands, as a whole, with implementing Work/Life initiatives for our employees. In addition, a discussion of Work/Life initiatives will be included in the agenda for the summer 1999 Directorate Meeting. This will give us an opportunity to do a mid-year assessment of our Progress.

Attachment

Employee Transportation Subsidy

This program provides a pre-tax payroll deduction to employees for public transportation. The program will be available to Service employees this Spring.

This program provides qualified safety escorts, such as building security personnel, to escort employees to transportation/commuting sites.  This service is available to employees in Albuquerque, NM; Minneapolis, MN; and Atlanta, GA.

Currently we are part of a Departmental contract for EAP services. This contract provides counseling services for employees in need, as well as seminars on a variety of issues, All Regions participate in this program.

Flexitime
This program allows employees to work on a flexible timeband, varying their start and quit time. Employees must still work during the core work hours (9.00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m.) and complete 40 hours each week (for full time employees). This programs also allows employees to take a longer lunch break to participate in fitness activities as long as they complete their scheduled number of hours of work by adding additional time at the beginning or end of their work day. All Regions participate in this program.
 
Compressed Work Schedules
In this program full-time employees work 80 hours per pay period, but may compress their work schedule to 4 10-hour days each week, or they may work 9 hours for 8 days of the pay period, 8 hours 1 day of the pay period, and have the 10th day off (5/4-9). All Regions participate in this program.

The credit hour program allows employees on a flexible work schedule to “earn” credit hours for work in excess of an individual's basic work requirement and that the employee elects to work in order to vary the length of a workday or workweek. Employees may earn up to 2 hours per day or 8 hours per non-work day, totaling a maximum of 24 credit hours during a pay period. Employees can then use their credit hours in place of leave.  Employees do not receive overtime pay for credit hours. Currently, only some employees in Minneapolis, MN, are authorized to use this program, but other Regions have expressed interest.  The Division of Personnel is currently developing a Director's Order to allow the use of  credit hours Servicewide.

The flexiplace program, or telecommuting, allows employees to work at a site outside their office.  This site may either be their home, a telecommuting site, or an alternate Service facility.  Current Service policy allows employees and supervise to enter into an agreement determining which days an employee will work outside the offices.  Another option within flexiplace is to broaden Service policy to allow project oriented or “hours” flexiplace agreements. This type of agreement would enable an employee to work at an alternative site to complete a specific project. Currently, only Region 1 (Portland OR) does not participate in the flexiplace program.

Part-time work programs allow positions to be filled with employees who work less than 40 hours a week. The job sharing program combines the duties of two part-time employees to create a single position. All the Regions offer part-time work schedules, and encourage job-sharing in appropriate circumstances.

This type of center provides health and fitness related publications and information. Region 2 offers this program to employees in the Albuquerque, NM, area and Region 6 is considering joining an existing center for employees in Denver, CO.

Child Care Centers

Child care centers are available at multiple locations throughout the county to provide quality care for employees' children.  Currently employees in Washington, DC; Portland, OR; Honolulu, HI; Albuquerque, NM; Shepherdstown, WV; Anchorage, AK; and some locations in Region 3 Minneapolis, MN) have access to federally sponsored centers.

This program provides employees with the names of multiple child care providers.  Currently, this service is available to employees in Albuquerque, NM, and Hadley, MA.

This program provides rooms for employees to use on a temporary basis when employees need to provide child care or elder care on site. This Service is available in Hadley, MA, and Washington, DC.

Fitness Facilities/Employee Membership Subsidy

The Service negotiates Contracts at a local level with existing community (or other governmental) fitness centers for employee access at a reduced cost.  The Service pays an annual fee to the centers, allowing the employees access for minimal cost. All Regions intend to participate in this program at some level. Some will take advantage of current federal centers, while others will have access to community centers at a reduced cost.

This program encourages offices to develop "community" fitness programs, such as a walking initiative. This program is available in Albuquerque, NM; Atlanta, GA, and Hadley, MA.

In this program contractors or volunteers provide employees with medical screenings for various health related conditions, such as heart disease, high blood pressure, and osteoporosis.  All Regions participate in this program.

This program uses the EAP contract or other vendors to provide employees information and seminars on such topics as weight loss and smoking cessation. All Regions participate in this program.

The program utilizes health units existing in our current facilities or in other federal locations. On a smaller scale, this program provides a site nurse on a part-time basis, such as twice a month. Health Unit services are available in Portland, OR; Minneapolis, MN; Hadley, MA; Anchorage, AK; and Washington, DC. The level of service varies from one location to another. Some facilities have a health unit in the building, while others use a provider a few times a week for routine matters.

Career Transition Services

This program offers counseling and seminars to employees who are experiencing or considering a change in their career. This Service is routinely provided to employees in Minneapolis, MN; and Atlanta, GA.

These programs provide information to employees prior to retirement regarding annuity estimates,  benefits, and other related issues. This Service is routinely provided to employees in Minneapolis, MN; Anchorage, AK; and Atlanta, GA.

Blood / Bone Marrow Donation

This program would coordinate blood and bone marrow information distribution and donation sites. This Service is routinely provided to employees in Minneapolis, MN; Anchorage, AK; and Washington, DC.

This program matches employees' interests with programs looking for volunteers. The Regions maintain a list of employees interested in volunteering and a list of agencies needing assistance. This Service is routinely provided to employees in Denver, CO, and Washington, DC.