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George Mason University

Winning year: 2007
Industry: Education
Location: Fairfax, VA
URL: www.gmu.edu

Highlights of 2007 Winning Strategies

George Mason University encourages and supports flextime and telework options with telework centers located at all campuses with access to computers and phones. Approximately 69 percent of the university's working population use some form of flextime with 55 percent using telework for some portion of the workweek. Forty-eight percent of George Mason employees are age 50+.

Additional Policies and Practices:

• Recruiting: George Mason University (George Mason) uses senior placement agencies to target mature workers and retirees.
• Workplace Culture/Continued Opportunities: George Mason offers these learning and development programs to its full- and part-time employees: tuition reimbursement, in-house classroom training, on-line training, and certification classes. In the past 12 months, 33 percent of the university's employees participated in at least one of the training opportunities with an average of 3.5 training hours. The university offers the "OSHER Life Long Training Institute" for adult learners. Responding to results from the "Quality of Worklife Survey," the university made the following employee benefit improvements: it offered ElderCare service, established the OSHER Life Long service center, offered pre- and post retirement financial education workshops to mature workers, and established a working mothers group and a state senate. Employees work on team projects to gain new experiences within the university. One example of an accommodation made for an employee who felt restricted and claustrophobic at work involved changing her work location along with offering her the option to telework from home or from another campus.
• Benefits/Health: Full- and part-time employees (working 20+ hrs/week) receive individual and family medical coverage, individual and family prescription drug coverage, individual and family vision and dental insurance, and individual and family long-term care insurance as well as short- and long-term disability. Health benefits for retirees pre-65 and 65+ include individual as well as spouse medical and drug coverage, vision and dental insurance, long-term care insurance, EAP services, and individual life insurance or other death benefit coverage. New hires are eligible for all of these benefits upon retirement. The university has a "Retiree Connection" program, which offers special programs, workshops, and discounts to retirees. George Mason offers an FSA plan to employees to assist with out-of-pocket health care costs.
• Benefits/Financial: George Mason offers a 401(k) plan (with employer match), a defined-benefit plan, as well as a money-purchase defined contribution plan to its full- and part-time employees. Other than employer match, George Mason encourages employees to participate in the 401(k) plan by offering them the option to choose to invest in lifecycle funds, and employees 50+ can make catch-up contributions. The university provides employees with financial planning information from the financial services firm that administers their 401(k). Specifically, the vendors come on campus once a month for individual one-on-one counseling. The university also has a financial planning seminar once a month and an annual pre-retirement seminar. George Mason offers short-term time off without pay as well as long-term leave of absences without pay to allow for caregiving. Employees receive 32 hours of Family and Personal leave annually to use for caregiving or any other family need. The university makes available the following wellness programs for full- and part-time employees: flu shots, health screenings, health risk appraisals, smoking cessation programs, health club discounts, physical activity/exercise programs, weight loss programs, and stress management training. The university holds an annual two-day Health and Wellness Fair where employees can receive free screenings. It offers full- and part-time employees on-site childcare, on-site eldercare, as well as referral services to assist with childcare and eldercare.
• Benefits/Alternative Work Arrangements: George Mason's full- and part-time employees have numerous flexible work options: flextime, compressed work schedules, job sharing, and telecommuting. Full-time employees are eligible to move to part-time work on a permanent or temporary basis.
• Opportunities for Retirees: George Mason currently has 590 retirees. An individual has direct responsibility for retiree relations. The university stays connected with its retirees by communicating regularly with them, inviting them to events, providing them with ongoing access to retirement planning , and formally acknowledging them when they retire. In addition, upon retirement, every retiree is offered a packet of special discounts to various university facilities and centers as well as free parking on campus. George Mason also offers retirees the following work arrangements: temporary work assignments, consulting/contract work, full-time work, and part-time work.
• Age of Workforce: Forty-eight percent of George Mason's employees are 50+. The average tenure of employees age 50+ is 10.5 years.