Flextime

Employees don’t have a one size fits all schedule. Many things in their personal lives can actually conflict with the standard 9-to-5 hours, Monday through Friday. Whatever the reason may be, employees appreciate a flexible schedule, also known as flextime, allowing them to customize their hours within a certain range of hours and days.

What Hours Does Flextime Include?

There is no set time that flex time must include, nor are there any legal requirements to offer employees flextime. It’s at the discretion of each business to decide if they offer flextime and the days and hours they are willing to let employees work. Examples of flextime given to employees can include:

• Monday to Friday, 7 am to 3 pm
• Tuesday to Friday, 7 am to 5 pm
• Wednesday to Sunday, 9 am to 5 pm

It’s important to set a policy which employees and managers must follow. Flextime can be offered to anyone, but it must not discriminate. Employers can limit flextime to certain situations. The best place to spell out a policy like this is in the employee handbook.

Can Anyone Have Flextime?

Flextime is possible for any job function; however, it’s much harder to offer flextime to customer- and client-focused employees, especially when it’s expected they’re in during certain hours. Other industries that aren’t customer- and client-driven can allow workers to come in a certain number of hours a week. Still, other industries like information technology may operate on a 24-hour cycle, and needs staff day and night. For positions such as these, a flextime schedule is in everyone’s best interest.

What are the Benefits of Giving Your Employees Flextime?

There are many benefit to giving your employees flextime. A work-life balance is among the biggest benefits. Not all employees have a flexible schedule. Employees may have all sorts of conflicts in their personal lives that don’t allow for a typical 9-to-5 day, yet need to stay in a full time position for financial reasons. Child and elder care, a second job and schooling are examples of conflicts with work hours. Some employees may need to coordinate a childcare schedule with their spouse, and it may help them to come in early and leave early to pick up their child. Others may be going back to school and need to leave early to attend classes. Still others may have an ongoing doctor’s appointment that causes them to come in late and leave late on a regular basis.

Another benefit of flextime is allowing employees to avoid the rush hour time period. For employees with long commutes, any effort to avoid sitting in traffic is welcome. This unpaid perk can keep a highly qualified employee on staff and prevent them from looking for a position closer to home.

Another bonus, depending on how flextime is broken out, can be lower overhead costs. If employees work drastically different hours, they can share office space and equipment, saving the company money. While not a significant saving, it can help retain skilled workers while offering minor savings.

Giving employees flextime allows them to schedule their lives around work in a more according way without sacrificing work productivity. When employees are free to get their personal objectives accomplished, while still working full time, they are free to focus on doing the job at hand, rather than worrying about their personal lives, and how they’ll get everywhere on time.