Can any one please suggest Flexi timing policy - ollow two timings in practice 9:00 to 17:30 0r 9:30 to 18:00 hrs

Can anyone please suggest a Flexi timing policy? We currently follow two timings in practice: 9:00 to 17:30 or 9:30 to 18:00 hrs. However, this is not documented anywhere until now. Therefore, I need to draft a Flexi timing policy.

Conceptually, flexi-timing is a little different. In flexi-timing, you define the minimum attendance hours and allow it in an interval of an additional 1/2 hours, keeping mandatory presence for certain fixed hours. For instance, the normal hours of work are seven in an office, and it could be anytime from 8.30 AM to 5.30 PM with mandatory presence from 10.00 AM to 4.00 PM. So, with a flexi-time policy, an employee can work from 9.30 AM to 4.30 PM or 10 AM to 5.00 PM or 9.00 AM to 4.00 PM, etc., depending on one's convenience.

Dear Colleague,

Good insight from our colleague. Kindly add:

In practical parlance, the "Flexi Timing" policy is adopted in different ways with a clear objective to engage employees and make their work easier and more comfortable. The whole purpose is not to insist on any pre-framed office timing or shift timing for the employees. They can choose to have their own timing but are required to meet desired delivery or meeting targets and complete the minimum required working time. Some companies have approached this concept in the following ways:

1. Employees are grouped into different teams depending on the criticality of the role/job.

2. Certain groups are not allowed to follow flexi timing as they are critically needed for the business. Their services/physical presence is required at fixed timings, and they are compensated with a special allowance.

3. The rest of the teams are given the options of:
a) Completing desired targets on a weekly or fortnightly basis without any minimum working time requirement.
b) Completing minimum working hours in a week/fortnight, which is compulsory.
c) Following any shift from the given option of 5 or 6 different start and close times.

4. Some companies are now offering a 4-day working week for any 2 weeks in a month and a 5-day working week in the rest of the weeks, which employees can choose.

There are no hard and fast rules, but depending on the business requirements of the organization, one can design their own system of a Flexi Timing system.

With these inputs, you may draft a policy after adding the policy and put this on probation for 3 months. Then invite ideas/improvements from business managers and finalize the policy.

Flexitime working is not practiced widely, mainly due to its limitations. As rightly said by Dr. Shivkumar, flexitime imposes one common time for all employees, who are allowed to come and work for 8 hours, which must include the common time. This system works well in office settings where different departments are not heavily dependent on each other. However, it may pose challenges when interaction, common meetings, policy explanations, or official business involving everyone are required at a specific common time. Such a work pattern is rarely found. For instance, a cashier must be available throughout working hours, and a manager's availability is crucial for decision-making. Additionally, there are extra expenses associated with continuous services like air conditioning, pantry, security, janitors, etc.

I propose an alternative approach. Instead of flexitime, we could consider implementing a concept I refer to as "flexiabsenteeism." On average, employees are entitled to 7 days of casual leave, 4 days of sick leave, 21 days of privilege leave, and 8 paid holidays, totaling 40 days. At the start of the year, employees would be informed that they have 40 days credited to them, which they can utilize based on their requirements. This system would ensure continuous operation of the office/factory. Certain conditions could be established, such as requiring prior approval and stipulating a minimum duration for continuous leave (e.g., 5 days for at least 3 instances). This approach could significantly reduce absenteeism and enhance employee satisfaction.

Vibhakar Ramtirthkar, Pune.