Hi Shurla,
I am presently pursuing an HR degree. I have an assignment to hand in within the next two (2) weeks, so I am asking for assistance in finding information on the concept of Flexible Working, its advantages, and disadvantages.
Any assistance would be greatly appreciated.
Thank you.
Shurla
From Trinidad and Tobago, Port-of-spain
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I am presently pursuing an HR degree. I have an assignment to hand in within the next two (2) weeks, so I am asking for assistance in finding information on the concept of Flexible Working, its advantages, and disadvantages.
Any assistance would be greatly appreciated.
Thank you.
Shurla
From Trinidad and Tobago, Port-of-spain
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Hi Shurla,
Ideal Candidates:
- Parents of young or school-age children
- Secondary wage earners in dual-income families
- People re-entering the workforce
- Retirees or people close to retirement
- People who enjoy varied work schedules
- People who desire to work at home
- Students
- Others who want to have a non-traditional schedule or work arrangement
Disadvantages:
- Managers often need convincing that flexibility won't harm the bottom line.
- More administrative skills required by managers regarding scheduling overtime, meetings, training, etc.
- Sometimes a stigma is attached to using flexible work options.
- Many managers have struggled with what they perceive as a loss of control.
- Out of sight, out of mind mentality.
Advantages:
- Degree of autonomy.
- Options make for happier employees.
- Pharmaceutical company AstraZeneca found that "commitment scores" - measures of employee attitudes that affect their effort and performance - were 28 percent higher for employees who said they had the flexibility they needed than for those who said they did not.
- Because of employees' cross-training and staggered days, customers were served for an extra hour and a half each day, and the time for completing certain transactions was cut by 50 percent or more.
- Most of the employees had long commutes, so the manager told them that they could work four-day weeks if they could train one another and figure out how to meet objectives with their new schedules.
- Employee retention - Professional services firm Deloitte saved $41.5 million in employee turnover costs in 2003, based on the number of professionals who said they would have left if they didn't have flexible work hours.
- Absenteeism and turnover declined.
Flexible work schedules refer to a variety of arrangements in which fixed times of arrival and departure are replaced by a working day composed of two different types of work time: core time and flexible time bands. Core time is the designated period during which all employees must be present. Typical core hours are between 9:30 am and 3:00 pm. Flexible time bands are the part of the daily work schedule within which employees may choose their time of arrival and departure within limits consistent with the duties and requirements of their positions. The employee must always account for the basic work requirements. This means the number of hours, excluding overtime hours, which an employee is required to work, or otherwise to account for by an appropriate form of leave (80 hours biweekly in the case of a full-time employee), remains constant.
The different types of flexible work schedules are:
- Variable Day - Within parameters, an employee may vary the length of the workday if present during the core hours, provided a full forty-hour workweek is completed.
- Variable Week - This is similar to the variable workday, except that the employee alters the whole workweek -- 80 hours biweekly, or multiples thereof, must continue to be worked.
- Multiflex - The length of both the workday and workweek may vary. Core hours may be designated for less than 10 workdays per biweekly period, and the 80-hour biweekly workweek or multiples thereof (e.g., 160 hours in four weeks) must be completed.
- Compressed Schedules - Compressed work schedules may also take a variety of forms but are fixed alternative work schedules. The most common is the four-day week, referred to as the 4/10 schedule, in which the employee works four 10-hour days and has a three-day weekend. An alternative is for the employee to work 9 hours for 8 workdays and 8 hours for one workday during a biweekly pay period and receive one day off biweekly.
The types of compressed work schedules are:
- 4-10 - Employees work 10 hours a day, four days a week. Daily, weekly, and biweekly basic work requirements apply.
- 5-4/9 - Employees work nine hours for eight workdays and eight hours for one workday during a biweekly pay period and receive one day off biweekly; all basic work requirements apply. This is the most common form of CWS.
- Other - Employees may be on a variation of the above schedules, provided the schedule they adopt is a fixed regular schedule.
I hope some of this information will be of value to you.
JEV
JeMM Consultants
From Canada, Ottawa
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4Ideal Candidates:
- Parents of young or school-age children
- Secondary wage earners in dual-income families
- People re-entering the workforce
- Retirees or people close to retirement
- People who enjoy varied work schedules
- People who desire to work at home
- Students
- Others who want to have a non-traditional schedule or work arrangement
Disadvantages:
- Managers often need convincing that flexibility won't harm the bottom line.
- More administrative skills required by managers regarding scheduling overtime, meetings, training, etc.
- Sometimes a stigma is attached to using flexible work options.
- Many managers have struggled with what they perceive as a loss of control.
- Out of sight, out of mind mentality.
Advantages:
- Degree of autonomy.
- Options make for happier employees.
- Pharmaceutical company AstraZeneca found that "commitment scores" - measures of employee attitudes that affect their effort and performance - were 28 percent higher for employees who said they had the flexibility they needed than for those who said they did not.
- Because of employees' cross-training and staggered days, customers were served for an extra hour and a half each day, and the time for completing certain transactions was cut by 50 percent or more.
- Most of the employees had long commutes, so the manager told them that they could work four-day weeks if they could train one another and figure out how to meet objectives with their new schedules.
- Employee retention - Professional services firm Deloitte saved $41.5 million in employee turnover costs in 2003, based on the number of professionals who said they would have left if they didn't have flexible work hours.
- Absenteeism and turnover declined.
Flexible work schedules refer to a variety of arrangements in which fixed times of arrival and departure are replaced by a working day composed of two different types of work time: core time and flexible time bands. Core time is the designated period during which all employees must be present. Typical core hours are between 9:30 am and 3:00 pm. Flexible time bands are the part of the daily work schedule within which employees may choose their time of arrival and departure within limits consistent with the duties and requirements of their positions. The employee must always account for the basic work requirements. This means the number of hours, excluding overtime hours, which an employee is required to work, or otherwise to account for by an appropriate form of leave (80 hours biweekly in the case of a full-time employee), remains constant.
The different types of flexible work schedules are:
- Variable Day - Within parameters, an employee may vary the length of the workday if present during the core hours, provided a full forty-hour workweek is completed.
- Variable Week - This is similar to the variable workday, except that the employee alters the whole workweek -- 80 hours biweekly, or multiples thereof, must continue to be worked.
- Multiflex - The length of both the workday and workweek may vary. Core hours may be designated for less than 10 workdays per biweekly period, and the 80-hour biweekly workweek or multiples thereof (e.g., 160 hours in four weeks) must be completed.
- Compressed Schedules - Compressed work schedules may also take a variety of forms but are fixed alternative work schedules. The most common is the four-day week, referred to as the 4/10 schedule, in which the employee works four 10-hour days and has a three-day weekend. An alternative is for the employee to work 9 hours for 8 workdays and 8 hours for one workday during a biweekly pay period and receive one day off biweekly.
The types of compressed work schedules are:
- 4-10 - Employees work 10 hours a day, four days a week. Daily, weekly, and biweekly basic work requirements apply.
- 5-4/9 - Employees work nine hours for eight workdays and eight hours for one workday during a biweekly pay period and receive one day off biweekly; all basic work requirements apply. This is the most common form of CWS.
- Other - Employees may be on a variation of the above schedules, provided the schedule they adopt is a fixed regular schedule.
I hope some of this information will be of value to you.
JEV
JeMM Consultants
From Canada, Ottawa
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