Southland firms step up employees' volunteer work.

Money's tight, so they use employees for civic work

An increasing number of Los Angeles County businesses are allowing their employees to take time off with pay to do volunteer work.

A primary reason for the growth in so-called "work release" programs is the recession. Business leaders said the economy has made it more difficult for companies to make financial contributions.

But they want to maintain the positive image that comes from community-based volunteerism, so they have created programs that allow employees to do volunteer work on company time.

Los Angeles County workers are involved in a whole host of volunteer activities, said business officials, including working with the homeless, tutoring school children and staging community events.

There are no accurate figures available on how many businesses in the county allow workers time off to do volunteer work. But a general rule is that the larger the corporation, the more likely it is to have one or more work release programs.

According to the Points of Light, a national organization based in Washington, D.C. that helps companies establish volunteer programs, more than 90 percent of companies in the United States with at least 5,000 employees offer some kind of work release program.

"These programs are definitely on the increase," said Judi Vallano, a spokeswoman for the organization. "Right now, corporations are providing the fastest growing pool of volunteers in the country."

Local business officials said a corporation's bottom line can be affected by volunteer programs.

"I guess it's kind of hard to quantify the benefits, but if this community thrives and is strong and is an appealing place to live and work, then that is going to benefit our business," said Dick Poladian, a managing partner in the downtown Los Angeles office of Arthur Andersen, the consulting and accounting firm. Poladian is responsible for the firm's work release program.

Business officials also said volunteers make for better and more productive workers.

"Studies have shown that people who volunteer are generally more productive people," said Kathy Faith, a spokeswoman for Nissan North America in Torrance, which has a work release program for its 1,800 employees in the county. "What's in it for us is that volunteering makes for a well-rounded person and that in turn makes for a better employee."

Faith participates in Nissan's work release program, which was established in October 1992, by volunteering for Mothers Against Drunk Driving.

The Business Journal contacted a half-dozen large businesses in the county about their volunteer programs and only one said it did not have any work release plans. That one business was the Gas Co., which used to have a program where workers could do volunteer work at local schools on company time. "We discontinued it because we didn't see any results from the program," said Michele Bagley, a company spokeswoman. She said she could not be more specific about why the program was discontinued.

Of those companies that did have work release programs, none said it could recall any abuses by employees. Abuses could include taking time off from work but not reporting to the volunteer organizations.

Typically, a work release program is where an employer offers employees time off from work to do volunteer work in the community. The time off, with pay, can range from an hour a week to a full year like a program that is available to a few select employees at Atlantic Richfield Co., the Los Angeles-based oil company.

Employees must get permission from their supervisors for the time off, said business officials, and can only leave when their work assignments are done. Time off for volunteer work is not automatically given, they said.

The business officials said that generally, about 10 percent of a company's work force takes advantage of work release programs.

All of the representatives of the large corporations said employees are encouraged to participate in the volunteer programs. Most of the officials stopped short of saying that participation is required if an employee wants to climb the corporate ladder.

"In most cases, it's something that starts with the employee wanting to do it," said Richard Klevit of Telcom Technologies in Pomona. "Yes, it can be a great opportunity for networking but it can also give workers an opportunity to make a contribution to the community."

Klevit does volunteer work through the Los Angeles Junior Chamber of Commerce, which runs such events as the Watts Summer Games and activities for foster children.

One company that acknowledged that work in the community can help a career is Arthur Andersen.

"A person is not likely to advance unless they have some civic involvement," said Poladian, the managing partner. "It's embedded in the culture of the company that you give something back to the community."

Mark Leaf, director of public relations at Andersen, said when he joined the company five years ago, "I got the distinct impression that this (volunteering) is what you do around here. It's not written anywhere but it's expected." Leaf said he takes time off from work, with pay, to do work with the Camp Fire Boys and Girls organization.