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August 31, 1992
MEMORANDUM
TO: Heads of Offices, Boards, Bureaus, and Divisions
FROM: William P. Barr
Attorney General
Subject: Worklife Policy
In May 1991, the Attorney General announced the Department's policy on worklife programs. As the Deputy Attorney General at that time, I fully supported this policy declaration. It was a bold and progressive demonstration of the Department's commitment to assuming a leadership role on worklife issues and an expression of its determination to have the competitive edge in the recruitment and retention of a quality workforce. My intention as Attorney General is to continue our progress on worklife issues and to encourage expansion of worklife programs in each organization.
Adopting this policy moved the Department to the forefront of Federal agencies by publicly endorsing the concept of helping employees balance both the professional and personal demands that they face every day. As a result, the Department is now viewed by both the public and private sectors as a leader in this arena. This favorable response to our efforts will serve the Department well in an increasingly competitive work environment where finding and keeping highly motivated, skilled staff is essential to the successful execution of the Department's mission.
The Department's worklife policy reflects a concerted effort to acknowledge and appreciate our employees and recognize that their lives extend beyond the walls of the Department of Justice. Worklife programs recognize the challenges employees face in balancing the competitive demands of work and family in today's fast-paced, complex environment. Implementation of comprehensive worklife programs in the private sector, driven by the changing demographic trends and expressed needs of the work force, has demonstrated concrete results. Companies with such programs report savings in recruitment and training costs, decreased absenteeism and tardiness, and improved productivity, employee morale, and loyalty to the organization.
Many of your organizations have utilized the services of the Department's Worklife Program Group to explore and implement worklife activities. Most of you have developed your first organizational worklife plan. Some organizations have even established pilot projects for specific worklife options and are determining the feasibility of implementing such programs on a broader scale. In every instance, managers and employees are discovering that worklife options can work to the benefit of the organization, the staff, and the Department as a whole.
Each of you is tasked with determining the management practices necessary to address the unique needs of your office. Implementation of a worklife program should in no way conflict with organizational work requirements. However, in light of the Department's worklife policy, I urge you to encourage all supervisors and managers to offer greater flexibility and support to employees when to do so would not undermine employee performance or their ability to serve the needs of the organization. Along with other factors, this flexibility is considered essential to the Department's efforts to continue to attract and maintain a high quality, highly motivated workforce.
I am counting on each of you to fully support and to help implement the Department's policy on worklife programs.
Last Updated February 21, 2001
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