Flex Time
Flex Time is
defined as a working- pattern where an employee on a daily basis and within
specific limits, can start and finish work at his or her discretion, as long as
the total number of hours required for a given time period is completed.
www.womensforum.com
Advantages/Disadvantages to Flex Time
Some Helpful Guidelines in Flex Time
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Originated in Europe around 1960s. Mainly the product of West German industry. |
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Christel Kammerer is credited for originally coming up with the concept and idea of alternative schedule. |
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Original credit for installing the "system" is generally given to Messarschmilt- Boklow-Blohm, a German aerospace firm located at Ottobunn, near Munich in 1967. |
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Canada, Britain, and the United States were slow to pick up on flex time until the 1970s. |
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Flex time was also called "gliding time" or "flexi time." |
Recommended reading: A Flexible Approach to Working Hours by Carrol J. Swart.
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According to the Secretary of Labor in a statement released March 1998, "the percentage of full-time workers with flexible schedules has nearly doubled since 1991, rising from 15.1 to 27.6 percent. Last year more than 25 million full-time wage and salary workers had flexible work schedules that allowed them to vary the time they began or ended work." |
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Both in 1991 and 1997, men were more likely than women to work an alternate or nontraditional shift (19.1 % and 13.7%, respectively). |
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Service-oriented occupations had the highest percentage of shift work. Professionals and managers had the lowest percentage of shift workers |
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Twenty-nine percent of some 29 million full-time wage and salary workers now have the option of working flexible hours, even though one-third may only be working for companies that have official flex time policies. |
For further research try these websites: www.benefitnews.com, www.shrm.org, and www.dol.gov.
Advantages/Disadvantages to Flex Time
Advantages
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Flexibility |
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Variety |
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Vary Commute Times |
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Increase Productivity |
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Decrease in absenteeism and lateness |
Disadvantages
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Key Personnel not always available |
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Abuse of the System |
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May get stuck in same schedule |
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May still conflict with personal responsibilities |
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Loss of Communication |
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Customer service may get affected |
For further research try these websites: www.workoptions.com and www.dir.ca.gov.
Some Helpful Guidelines in Flex Time
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Define your objectives |
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Describe and Define your workforce |
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Ask what your creditor's, customer's, and owner's expectations are |
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Involve the Union |
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Ask your Human Resources department and acquire information from your federal and state level regarding some regulations. |
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AB 60, California Labor Code 500, the "8 hour Day Restoration & Workplace Flexibility Act of 1999." |
For further research try these websites: www.dol.gov, and www.dir.ca.gov
Allstate Insurance Company
American Express
Bank of America
IBM
Intel
Johnson and Johnson
Verizon Wireless
Wells Fargo Company
For more information on companies who offer flex time, please go to www.workingmother.com.
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Companies that Care: the most family-friendly companies in America written by Hal Morgan and Kerry Tucker. |
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Work Concepts for the Future: Managing Alternative Work Arrangements written by Patricia Schiff-Estes. |