Flextime

Flextime is a flexible work arrangement where employees have the opportunity to set their own individual start and stop times for work. In most cases, the employer designates a block of five or six hours where all employees are required to be at work. These are frequently referred to as core hours. Core hours should span the portion of the day where peak work activity occurs (the portion of the day that necessitates the maximum availability of employees).

Once the core hours are established, employees are allowed to set their own start and ending work times. For example, the administrative office in a hospital may typically be open between 8 A.M. and 5 P.M., but the office receives most of its inquiries between 9 A.M. and 3 P.M. However, if the office could open before 8 A.M. and stay open later than 5 P.M. there would be the opportunities to better serve hospital staff and customers. Therefore, this administrative office might choose to set core hours of 10 A.M. to 3 P.M., allowing employees the ability to start their workday as early as 6 A.M. and end their workday as late as 7 P.M. All employees are required to work an 8-hour shift, with consistent but individual start and end times; thus service hours of the administrative office are extended.

It is recommended that managers remain active in the evaluation and approval of individual requests for flexible scheduling, to avoid any gaps in office coverage. A well-managed office, however, has the strong possibility of not only accommodating the individual needs of employees but also substantially extending the hours of service delivery.

Flextime is one of several work-scheduling alternative an employer may want to consider. Other options include compressed workweeks and telecommuting. When allowing employees to pursue flexible work scheduling, it is advisable to have employees commit to the alternative schedule for a fixed amount of time, such as three months, so the success of the different work schedule can be appropriately evaluated.