The Work/Life Wheel - Human Resources and Payroll

The Work/Life Wheel
Volume 1, Issue 2
July 2008
What’s new in Work/Life!
Things to reduce the “hectic” in your life and
increase the fun! This and more at the work/life
website
It's a challenge to keep all the pieces of your life together.
Here's a service that can help! Faculty, staff, and students
have a complimentary subscription to Sittercity.com's
comprehensive database of in-home caregivers providing
child care, senior care, pet care, home care, and tutoring.
Sittercity makes it simple and fast to find local care
providers. To learn more and to register for free access to
Sittercity.com, please visit George Mason's personal
program page.
Important note: Mason does not own, sponsor, or endorse
Sittercity.com. You should always carefully screen and check
the references of any caregivers, including those who are
listed on Sittercity.com, before you retain their services.
Is your "to do" list growing? More tasks than time? At
Waiting For You, a personal concierge company, Mason
faculty and staff have their account set up fee waived and
receive a 20% discount off the hourly rate and a 10%
Summer Flex!
It’s here! …
As you may know, Mason has a Telework & Flextime Policy
(#2202). What you may not know is that we’ve been
retooling it to streamline and consolidate some of the
paperwork and make it easier to use. As part of that process,
and to highlight flexible work options, we’re also
introducing SUMMER FLEX!
What is Summer Flex?
Summer Flex is designed to highlight and promote flexible
work options in a finite time frame to allow those members
of the Mason community who are not utilizing flexible work
options to consider “test driving” the concept of flexible
work. Summer Flex will run from July 1-August 16, 2008.
It is hoped that Summer Flex will introduce supervisors and
employees to the benefits and opportunities that flexible
work offers. It’s important to remember that departments
have the flexibility to shorten the length of their participation
in Summer Flex or not participate if it poses operational
issues.
HR & Payroll had some help!
Students in Dr. Cindy Parker’s MGMT 421 Class, Advanced
HR, helped us develop some promotional materials. The
poster below was designed by Kimberly Waller, Jaqueline
Vatis, Faren Alston, and Eric Ramierez and was the top vote
getter to represent Summer Flex. We hope you will use it to
initiate a discussion about Summer Flex in your office. 
Continued on page 2
INSIDE THIS ISSUE
1
What’s new in Work/Life?
1
Summer Flex
2
Health & Wellness: The HR/P Challenge
3
How to Manage Flexible Work: A Supervisor’s Guide
3
Be a Climate Champion!
4
Summer Life Planning Seminar Series
4
News Nugget
For more information on Summer Flex, please see the
Work/Life website at http://hr.gmu.edu/worklife/flex
Work/Life Wheel Page
1
continued from page 1
discount on package deals. Waiting for You services are
customized to your needs. They are bonded, licensed and
insured. Use promotion code: 0802!GMU
Mobile tire installation is available for George Mason
faculty, staff and students at a discount. Order your tires
online at TireVan or by calling them toll free at 877-8473826 and have their trained technicians install them at your
home or at Mason (due to construction at Arlington,
installation at Mason is only available at Fairfax and Prince
William at this time). Lowest price and scratch free
installation guaranteed. Even if you don't need new tires
right away, TireVan is also offering a free membership in
the TireVan ADVANTAGE Program. This program can
help you save time and money on the care and maintenance
of your car. To take advantage of the free membership,
please go to the TireVan Advantage Program website and
use sign-up code: GM527UF. Additional details on the
program.
Six Flags America - Mason faculty and staff can enjoy Six
Flags America at a discount. One-day admission is $21.99
plus tax (a $3.00 service charge is added to each order ... not
each ticket). Please see myMasonHR for details.
Kings Dominion - Mason faculty, staff and students can
enjoy a $14.00 savings off the general gate admission price
of $51.95 with "Good-Any-Day-Tickets." Please see
myMasonHR for details.
Busch Gardens
Mason faculty, staff, and students are eligible for discounts
at Busch Gardens Williamsburg as well as at other
Anheuser-Busch parks including Sesame Place near
Philadelphia. For example, full price at Busch Gardens
Williamsburg for an adult is $56.95 (children 3-9, $49.95).
If your order a single day ticket on line you can save $11.00.
For the website to use and details on the process, please see
myMasonHR.
Disclaimer
George Mason Work/Life compiles these resources and programs for
use as referral only. Mason does not recommend or endorse any
company or organization listed. By providing this information, the
University assumes no financial or other responsibility for any
relationship established by and between any company or organization
listed on the work/life website and any other individual.
The offers and discounts on the work/life pages are for George Mason
faculty and staff only (unless specifically designated otherwise).
Health & Wellness: A
Replicable Success Story!
Motivation can sometimes be difficult to maintain. But HR
& Payroll has found a way to keep exercise at the forefront
of daily activities. It started with a small group in the
department last fall. They wanted to help motivate each
other to stay on track with regular exercise. One of the
members of the group posted a simple chart on his door with
names and monthly goals (in miles). This, of course, led to
other colleagues asking what was up and in just a few
months, the group went from four to 23! Since January, HR
& Payroll has logged over 5300 miles. And Fiscal Services
has joined HR & Payroll in keeping track as well. Nothing
like a little friendly rivalry in total monthly miles between
departments to keep everyone energized and moving!
All types of exercise qualify – biking, running, walking,
jogging, jazzercising, yoga – participants use either actual
miles or a conversion factor to turn calories burned into
miles. It’s all about personal goal setting in a team
atmosphere. And, it really works! Because sometimes all
you need is a little push. When you know you’ve set a goal
for yourself and you’ve let others know about that goal, it is
a big motivator to get out there and take a walk at lunch or
after work. Or, to head to the gym even when, all things
being equal, you’d rather stay home and hang out in front of
the TV.
The HR & Payroll team has kept it up for several months
now and lots of us have steadily increased our monthly
goals. When some folks were starting, their commitment
was 30 miles a month – one mile per day. Now some of
them are up to 3 miles per day in just a few months.
You may ask, where does one find the time? Try walking
for a mile at lunch. You can easily map a route for one mile
at mapmyrun.com. This really handy website allows you to
lay out a route on road or off. It’s terrific!
Or you can try working out at one of Mason’s health
facilities or one in the local area. CommonHealth,
Virginia’s health & wellness initiative for state employees,
has a website that lists all sorts of discounts at area health
clubs. You can check them out at the CommonHealth
website.
But the best advice comes from one of our HR/Payroll
Challenge participants. Her advice? Do something over
nothing. It doesn’t have to be strenuous or exhausting. Just
move every day. And if you want to lose a little weight,
move a little more! You can do it!
Start an exercise challenge in your office. Everyone
chooses their own pace and there’s no judging, just a lot of
enthusiasm, support, and plenty of exercise buddies. Try it!


Work/Life Wheel Page
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How to Manage Flexible
Work: A Supervisor’s
Guide*
tools that can enhance performance,
retention, work/life balance, and
productivity. Something this
comprehensive with such far reaching
potential is a management tool not to be
missed. 
As a supervisor, do you have concerns
regarding how to manage staff that you cannot
see? As a result, are you hesitant to permit
anyone on your team to utilize a flexible work
arrangement?
*From “Out of Office: Advice from CEOs Who Have Embraced
Telecommuting,” Washington SmartCEO,
January 2008 , www.smartceo.com
Be a Climate Champion!
If so, please consider:
Key Actions for Faculty and Staff to
Support Mason’s Climate Commitment*
♦ Setting clear expectations and frequent measurements –
this amounts to a shift from “owning the process” which
means everyone has to be at the office to “owning the
results” whereby your team members can, in many cases,
be anywhere because you are getting what you need
from them.
♦ Using technology to support flexible work including
telework and remote work. For information on how
Mason can technologically support telework and remote
work, please see
http://telecomadmin.gmu.edu/Telework/telework.htm.
♦
Recognizing that flexible work options do not preclude
you from having your team members in the office on a
regular basis. Working out the schedule, including
when the employee is to be in the office, is part of the
flexible work agreement process.
♦
The possibility that there could be resistance or
resentment on the part of those members of your team
for whom flexible work may not be an option. The
emphasis is on work product, including customer
service, flexibility, and retention. It’s in everyone’s
interest to keep good people and to provide superlative
departmental performance. Flexible work options can
be strategically utilized to deliver both.
♦
♦
For more information on flexible work options, please
see hr.gmu.edu/worklife.
The beauty of the flexible work agreement. It has a
built in trial period and an escape clause. If it’s not
working well, it can be terminated by either the
supervisor or the employee (as long as it wasn’t a
condition of work).
That flexible work options can lead to other benefits as
it is an opportunity to “take stock of things”, make
improvements in work flow and process, and reenergize your department.
Telework, job sharing, flextime, remote work,
and compressed schedules are management
Turn it off!
Turn off lights when you go out of the room. Set
computers to go to sleep automatically when left idle.
Remember that sleep mode saves energy, but screen
savers don’t. Turn off your monitor if you expect to
be away more than 20 minutes. Don’t let water run
unnecessarily – saving water saves energy too. At the
end of the day, turn off computers, printers, copiers,
fax machines, and power strips.
Avoid the drive.
Did you know Mason offers its employees up to $115
per month in Commuter Choice benefits? Explore
transportation.gmu.edu to find out about the benefits
and options for public transportation, carpooling, and
bicycling to Mason. Arrange meetings of colleagues
at Fairfax, Arlington, and Prince William campuses
via videoconferencing.
Offset the flight.
Did you know a roundtrip flight from Dulles to
London produces as many CO2 emissions per
passenger as 4400 miles in a Toyota Corolla? Many
UPCOMING EVENTS
Check out the HR & Payroll Training Site for a host of
Summer Lunch & Learn sessions including:
7/17 - Understanding Workers’ Compensation with
Paula Polson
8/7 –
Feel the Heat: Fire Extinguisher Training with
Keith Cunningham
8/21 – Training for an Endurance Event with
Marie Fisher
Register for these and other training events at
hr.gmu.edu/training.
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Twice is Nice!
Continued from page 3
Summer Eldercare Seminar Series: Our Most
Popular Sessions are Back for a Second
Time…With a New Name!
The Eldercare Seminar Series has a new name! It is now
the Life Planning Seminar Series. We hope the new name
will encourage those of you who may not be caring for an
elder relative to join us. After all, who doesn’t need to
make some life plans? The Life Planning Summer Series is
underway with two more sessions scheduled. The July
session is presented by Patrice Winter, a licensed physical
therapist and our Eldercare Coordinator, and will address
staying well balanced. In August, we’re reprising an earlier
session on the Medicare Maze. Patrice is working on the
Life Planning Seminars for the upcoming academic year. If
you have suggestions on topics you’d like to see, please
send Patrice an email at [email protected].
The Life Planning Summer Seminar Series sessions are
from 12:00-1:00pm on the Fairfax Campus. To register,
please visit http://hr.gmu.edu/training
JULY – Wednesday, July 2, SUB II, Rooms 1&2
“Balance for ‘Boomers’ and their Parents: Thinking on
Your Feet” with Patrice Winter
AUGUST – Wednesday, August 6, Mason Hall, D3 A&B
“More on the Medicare Maze” with Howard Houghton, Jr.,
Coordinator, VA Insurance Counseling and Assistance
Program, Fairfax Area Agency on Aging 
News Nugget
Notes from the Mason Community and Beyond.
In the course of our travels, sometimes we find a little
jewel of information, a nugget of news and we just want to
share it --- a helpful website, an interesting opportunity, a
gadget that can save time or money or both. With the
appropriate disclaimer that HR & Payroll and Mason are
not endorsing or promoting the sites or subjects, here you
go!
♦ Are you home with a little one or know someone
who is? Fairfax Corner 14: Cinema De Lux offers
“Baby Pictures: Movies for Parents.” The latest
movies in a baby friendly setting. Thursdays at
10:00am.
*Fairfax Corner 14: Cinema De Lux, 11900 Palace Way,
Fairfax, VA 22030, (703) 502-4060 Baby Pictures website
Mason faculty rack up several overseas trips every
year adding substantially to Mason’s carbon footprint.
Take the train to that meeting in New York.
Reconsider the conference travel, participate via the
web-conferencing option, or buy carbon offsets to
make up for the emissions from air-travel.
Dress for the season.
Did you know the Commonwealth of VA
recommends setting the thermostat at 68 in the winter
and 78 in the summer? Mason office thermostats,
however, are set at more comfortable settings of 70 in
winter and 76 in summer. Help out by dressing for the
season, avoiding the use of space heaters, and
exercising restraint with open windows. Heating and
cooling are energy and carbon intensive and add
substantially to University costs.
Reduce-Reuse-Recycle.
The average U.S. office worker goes through 10,000
sheets of copy paper each year. Reduce the paper you
use by printing on both sides or reading documents
online. Reuse the backside of old documents for
faxes, scrap paper, or drafts. Make it a habit to always
recycle paper as well as other products, and complete
the loop by buying products made with recycled
content.
Eat less meat.
Livestock production is responsible for 18% of all
greenhouse-gas emissions. The meat industry
contributes to global warming by emissions of
methane gas and also land and water degradation.
Instead of ordering a burger, have a peanut butter &
jelly sandwich and save as much as 2.5 pounds of
carbon dioxide. Reduce your meat consumption and
help reduce harmful emissions.
Get active.
Take a class related to climate change or the
environment, or teach one. Mason has more than 125
such classes – free for faculty and staff. Take the lead
in turning your office into a more energy-efficient and
materials-efficient workplace. Check out
sustainability.gmu.edu for other ways to get involved.
You can help make Mason a leader in reducing carbon
emissions.
*From the April 23rd Climate Champions Orientation
For more information on what you can do to be kind
to the planet, check out Mason’s Sustainability
website and get to know Lenna Storm, Mason’s
Sustainability Coordinator.
Have a nugget of news to share? Email the Work/Life
Wheel at [email protected].
Work/Life Wheel Page
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