Flextime

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Flextime (also spelled flexitime [British English], flexi-time) is a flexible hours schedule that allows workers to alter workday start and finish times.[1] In contrast to traditional[2]work arrangements that require employees to work a standard 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. day, flextime typically involves a "core" period of the day during which employees are required to be at work (e.g., between 11 a.m. and 3 p.m.), and a "bandwidth" period within which all required hours must worked (e.g., between 5:30 a.m. and 7:30 p.m.).[3] The working day outside of the "core" period is "flexible time," in which employees can choose when they work, subject to achieving total daily, weekly or monthly hours within the "bandwidth" period set by employers,[3] and subject to the necessary work being done[citation needed]. The total working time required of employees on flextime schedules is the same as that required under traditional work schedules.[3] A flextime policy allows staff to determine when they will work, while a flexplace policy allows staff to determine where they will work. Advantages include allowing employees to coordinate their work hours with public transport schedules,[citation needed] with the schedules of their children, and with daily traffic patterns to avoid high congestion times such as rush hour. Some claim that flexible working will change the nature of the way we work.[citation needed]

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Flexible working from practitioners’ viewpoint[edit]

The industrial perspective of flexible working[citation needed] emphasizes on the practical definition of flexibility. Employees being allowed to work from many different places as long as their level of production is maintained if not increased.[4] Moreover, research reports[5] gave quantitative interpretation backed by statistical evidences showing the changing attitude of organisations in different countries and especially the UK toward flexible working. For example, 50% of companies in the UK started to consider flexible working as a common practice and 73% of the managers in the survey showed an ultimate support to it. On the other hand, employees showed great preference to flexible working to the point that 40% of workers in the UK choose it over salary.[6] Also, greater[citation needed] focus was put[7][8] to explain the increased demand for such arrangements by both stakeholders which was clarified by their advantages of contributing to high quality of output results while creating the perfect working conditions for workers.

Additionally, as seen recently, most business organisations have started to introduce flexible working patterns for their employee as a way to increase their productivity level, increasing profitability. Flexible working is also seen as a family-friendly policy, which leads to a good work life balance for employees. Some examples of organisations with flexible working arrangement include Agilent technologies, NetApp, Qualcomm Inc.[9]

Flexible working arrangements may be a way for organisations to expand and increase their operations nationally and internationally at lower cost, in comparison to permanent or non-flexible working arrangements.[10] While both employees and employers acknowledge the benefits of flexible working, drawbacks might include extra expenses and responsibilities the organization could incur in order to provide these arrangements and the decreased benefits offered to employee in accordance to their reduced working hours.[11]

Flexible working in academia[edit]

Flexible working was academically introduced in 1970[12] and since then this topic continues to be the interest of many research papers. For four decades, academic papers have contributed to the increased knowledge and interest in flexible working. A descriptive background of the evolution of the concept of flexibility as well as highlighting the main factors contributed to its growth were the main focus of academic studies.[13] Also, they deliver evidence of the significant amount and the ongoing increase in the use of flexible working in many countries.[14] Few empirical studies were conducted to reflect the relation between flexible working and other variables. As a response to the empirical gap, a study by Origo and Pagani[15] based on a sample of European countries, gave a deep analysis of the concept of flexible working by testing the level of heterogeneity in the effect of ?exibility on job satisfaction and found some positive link with some aspects of the job while negative or no relation was found against other aspects.

Academicians see flexible working as an element which can both prevent and create opportunities. The findings revealed generally positive relationship between flexible working and perceptions of job quality in term of work-life balance and helping to improve and control autonomy particularly for remote workers, but some factors such as opportunities for advancement will be negatively affected due to the variations on different dimensions of job quality.[16] Flexible employment is one of the vital factor in the European Union policy discourse. It is a mean to reduce unemployment, increase economic and social cohesion, maintain economic competitiveness and enhance equal opportunities between women and men.[17]

Recording flextime working[edit]

There are many different methods used for recording working time ranging from sophisticated software (computer programs) to handwritten time sheets. Most of these methods are associated with the payment of wages in return for hours worked. As a result, they often do not address a fundamental difference of most flexible working systems - namely the intention of flexible working to allow an employee to "trade hours" with their employer in return for a fixed wage (Hayward, Bruce; Fong, Barry; Thornton, Alex (December 2007), "The Third Work-Life Balance Employer Survey: Main Findings" (PDF), UK Govt. Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform).

Millennial and flexible working[edit]

Millennial Generation is the name most commonly used to describe those born between 1985 and 2001. As the right to request for flexible working is extended to all by law, many benefits are expected to rise. With “Millennial” becoming the interest of many organisations, flexible working seems to be the element to attract them.[25] As ethnic diversity and high level of education are their main characters, it is seen that millennial are more likely to change their jobs more than previous generation to achieve economical reason and career advancement. Additionally, due to the delay in the retirement of baby boomers generation, gaps in workforce were created and waiting for Millennial to fill.[26]

Advantages and Criticisms of Flexible Working[edit]

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Flexible Working pattern is a form of working arrangement which enables employees to decide the time, duration, and location of their work.[27] Flexible working patterns has gained the interest of both academics and industrial practitioners in recent years, the reason is mainly because of its implementation into law in 1930. From Literature evidences highlight the fundamental importance of flexible working to both academics and industrialist as a means to establish a good work –life balance for employees, explaining how a good work-life balance for employees makes employees increase their efficiency of work, which in turns leads to increase in productivity of the organisation.[28][29]

Academics literature have identified some benefits of flexible working patterns to employees such as life satisfaction, better wellbeing, and overall a good work-life balance,[30] but some researchers argue that although there are such benefits, there are some negative effect such as work intensity, job insecurity associated with flexible working arrangement. Research works such as Evans et al., (2000) also highlight that flexible working pattern may not be applicable to all occupational fields, the authors also heighted the medical profession as one of such fields.[31]

Industrial sources also have been able to highlight one of the positive effects of flexible working patterns as being able to attract highly qualified professionals, but Brookins[32]established some negative effects flexible working patterns had to employers as it adds expenses and responsibility on the organisation, negative availability perspectives of employees on the customers, and employee availability.[better source needed]

Both academics and industrial sources were established that in some professions flexible working arrangement may not be available or its availability will have a negative perspective on employees by others with a non-flexible arrangement, example of such profession is the medical profession. The researcher done by Evans et al., (2000) on flexible working patterns in medical profession emphasized how some medical doctors may attributes negative perception with colleagues with flexible working pattern. In 1930, Employees in the United Kingdom were given the right to request for flexible working arrangement, but there was no instructions or guideline on the way for this would work. Flexible working concept is also a relatively new form of working arrangement and this has limited its application in other parts of the world such as some region in Africa.

Flexible working patterns is a working arrangement that enable employees to determine the duration, time and location of their work. It has been seen both by academics and industrial sources to have benefit sure as increase of work-life balance for employee, which in turns leads to increase in productivity for the employer or organisation. Organisations hoping to adopt this form of working pattern for its employee should conduct research on how flexible working pattern is done in its industries, to avoid the enquiring a large expenses some researchers have associated the conducted flexible working arrangement.

Flexible working time accounts[edit]

Flexible working time accounts is also known as deposited working-time accounts or work bank account system. It is derived from the German Federal Labor Government's reform program, which was passed by the German Federal Government on August 21, 2002. Then Federal Chancellor, Gerhard Fritz Kurt Schr?der , announced that the program will invite the former director of human resources management of Volkswagen company, Peter Hartz, chaired the Labour Market Reform Committee. This program's goal is to make the rigidity of the labor system more flexible and to change the old social welfare policy, in order to lighten heavy financial burden.[33]

Definitions[edit]

The concept of flexible working time accounts is to establish labor-self accounts, and labors can save their working hours, just like saving money, into their own accounts. The working hours in their accounts are their assets, so that employers and workers both sides can increase or decrease the work required by each other without affecting the salaries and welfare. While achieving the purpose of flexible labor, and the account-system may be short-term, long or permanent (life-time) of the convention.[33]

Characteristics[edit]

Flexible working time accounts system has the following four characteristics [34]

1. Flexible working time accounts shall be calculated for at least the period of one year.

2. The calculation of long-term account system is usually based on time and money, occasionally there may be passed on from other labors' accounts, the situation is only applicable to short-term working time.

3. When using long-term working time accounts, there are two features can be used to classify