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5/1/05 WORKPLACE Government employees were awarded $55 million to settle discrimination complaints against federal agencies last year, down from $61 million in 2003, the nation's antibias agency reported. The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, which monitors workplace bias, said that 19,024 workplace bias complaints were filed against government agencies by federal employees. Of the charges filed, 7,782 alleged that workers experienced some form of retaliation after complaining about discrimination. The second largest number of complaints were brought by individuals who alleged they were discriminated against because of their ages. In all, 5,449 age discrimination complaints were filed, the EEOC said. The report also revealed that government employees waited 280 days for their allegations to be resolved, up from 267 days in fiscal 2003. ''Despite some agencies' better efforts to process discrimination complaints, they are constrained by a system that is costly, cumbersome, and inefficient,'' said Cari M. Dominguez, EEOC chairwoman. "The volume of complaints filed is still too high, and the time it takes to investigate complaints is still too long." STUDY A national organization says a study based on a poll of hundreds of women reveals that all mothers put family first, even when they're working. That's one conclusion from a study by ClubMom, a national group that represents working and stay-at-home mothers. The ''Voice of Mom'' study, gleaned from a telephone poll of 1,003 mothers, found that 92 percent would choose their families over their careers. Eight percent said that even if money were no object, they would work full time. That doesn't mean that mothers don't want to work: Sixty percent of the women polled said they would prefer to work part time. ''More than half of the working moms say that the children of working moms do just as well as the children of stay at home mothers,'' said ClubMom. ''In turn, stay-at-home moms think their children are doing better than working moms.'' Both groups of mothers believe that working mothers are valued more than those who stay at home. The organization reported that 62 percent of the women who do not work agreed with that statement. In contrast, 55 percent of working mothers said they felt that mothers with jobs were more valued by society. One interesting finding from the poll: American mothers are conflicted about balancing family and work. In all, 66 percent of the working mothers said it was difficult to balance their worklives and their family responsibilities, and more than one-third said they felt guilty for not being able to give their families — or their jobs — a 100 percent effort. And, 25 percent said they sometimes cause their children to wait because they cannot break away from work. ''Working moms feel more guilty about missed time with family, rather than time away from work,'' said the report. ''Very few complain of missed job opportunities or promotions because of obligations at home. And just 6 percent are jealous of the careers of friends who don't have children,'' the report said. Workplace specialists say the findings suggest that some working women still have difficulty finding balance, and that employers need to do more to promote flexible scheduling and other benefits. The poll, conducted by Greenberg, Quinlan, Rosner Research Inc., was based on a random national survey with a margin of error of plus or minus 3.1 percent. COST CUTTING In a push to cut costs and save time, more US firms are choosing to outsource their personnel or human resource departments, reports Hewitt Associates, the Illinois benefits consulting firm. The firm, which polled 129 big US companies with close to 2 million employees, found that 94 percent outsource at least one human resource function or activity and most said they would expand that activity by 2008. At present, 91 percent outsource outplacement services, 89 percent said their employee assistance programs are done by outside firms, 83 percent rely on other companies to manage their employees' 401 (k) plans, and 68 percent said their defined benefit pension plans are managed by outside specialists. Over the next five years, the companies said they would likely outsource learning and development, payroll, recruiting, health and welfare, and global mobility services for employees to outside firms. The companies said the primary reasons for outsourcing those functions to other companies were lower costs and greater expertise. They also said that by turning over certain duties to human resource firms that specialize in those areas, their own personnel staff can focus more time on ''strategic work that is integral to the business.'' ON THE JOB If a new report on legal secretaries is an accurate reading of their concerns, many have demanding and thankless jobs. Sponsored by the Association for Legal Professionals, the report is based on a poll of 1,000 legal secretaries. The findings reveal that legal secretaries are more inclined to say they want a day off or more help in the office than flowers from a doting boss. In fact, many say they rarely get time off and are often loaded down with too much work. ''They're telling us that some lawyers are out of touch with their support staff,'' said Deborah Weinstein, an attorney and president of the Weinstein Firm in Pennsylvania, which designed the survey. ''They're telling us that many of them are either overwhelmed or struggling to keep up with their assignments and that most attorneys seldom or never ask about their workload when they assign a task.'' The Tulsa-based association said that 63 percent of the legal secretaries polled described themselves as overwhelmed with their current workloads, and 53 percent said the lawyers they work for rarely consider their secretary's workloads or schedules before giving them additional work. And, although Administrative Professionals Day was last week, many legal secretaries weren't expecting to get much from the boss. Of those polled, 40 percent said the attorneys they work for would probably do nothing to show appreciation for the work the secretaries do. Thirty-four percent said they expected to be treated to lunch, and 8 percent said they would probably get flowers. Even so, just 9 percent of the legal secretaries who participated in the survey said they wanted lunch and only 2 percent said they wanted flowers. Instead, 32 percent said they'd rather have a day off, and 21 percent said they'd prefer a gift certificate. Diane E. Lewis can be reached at .
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