nearly all of these requests were granted volume untrial with little opposition by employers. in fact, these same countries are considering expanding the right to request to all employees. employers have had a very positive experience with this policy. in addition to the clear benefit to employees, employers have found that by allowing flexible working arrangements, increases worker satisfaction, loyalty and productivity, decreases worker absenteeism and turn over, and thus helps to control costs and help with the bottom line. the so-called right to request has been proposed at the federal level by several senators and members of congress including senators ted kennedy and bob casey, that has not passed. this is why national state advocates have asked san francisco to pursue this policy as a ballot measure in order to educate the public and to hopefully establish our city as a first jurisdiction in the country to establish this right to request. colleagues, i look forward to having a conversation with you and the public about this and the rest of my items i will submit. >> tha