The College's Civil Justice Clinic Work-Life Policy Unit will host the Arizona Work/Life Network, a group of individuals representing various organizations that review research, discuss events and exchange information in an effort to build the impact of work/life issues in society.
"This is the best example that I'm aware of in this country, where a group of people from academia, private sector employers, and public and non-profit sector employers, come together to regularly network and talk about some of the employee resource and administrative issues related to work-life," said Marcy Karin, an Associate Clinical Professor at the law school and Director of the Work-Life Policy Unit.
Karin and Sarah Tracy, an Associate Professor in the ASU Hugh Downs School of Communication and Director of the School's Project for Wellness and Work-Life (PWWL), will address the group on Tuesday. The PWWL is a consortium of faculty, graduate students and organizational members who work together to better understand, study and improve work-life well-being. Tracy's scholarly work examines emotion, communication and identity in the workplace with particular focus on emotional labor, workplace bullying, burn-out and work-life wellness.
Tracy and a few of her Ph.D. students will present some of their cutting-edge research, and law students will discuss recent changes in employment laws including the Americans with Disabilities Act and equal pay, as well as highlight some of the Civil Justice Clinic's recent client work.
"Law students don't usually have the opportunity to do substantive presentations to the outside community. This is a good thing for students to be able to talk about something they've worked hard on for clients and explain some of the complex legal work they've been doing to non-lawyers," said Karin, an active member of the national work-life law and policy community and former Legislative Counsel for Workplace Flexibility 2010. "The students learn that what they're doing matters to a broader community beyond their individual clients, and they get a big-picture view of this community and the people who struggle with interpreting the laws, and they can take away from it, 'How do we go back to make it easier for them'?"
Diane Burrus, an ASU alumna and member of the Network's steering committee, said it provides a unique opportunity for Arizona-based employers, human resources professionals, academics and students to learn about the leading work-life issues facing employees and employers and best practices and win-win solutions for success.
"The meetings provide an opportunity for learning, discussion, sharing and networking, and participants take away practical ideas and resources to apply in their organization to help move their Work-Life Strategy forward," said Burrus, Senior Consultant at WFD Consulting, a leading national and international consultant to Fortune 100 companies in work-life and workplace flexibility.