Flexible Work Schedules

What are flexible work schedules?

Flexible work schedules and workplace flexibility have been trending for several years and their popularity soared in early 2020. Unlike traditional schedules that typically require employees to work a continuous shift at a specific location, flexible schedules allow shifts of varying length and potentially at changing locations including home.

What are the benefits of flexible work schedules?

91% of HR professionals agreed that flexible work arrangements positively influence employee engagement, job satisfaction and retention. Flexible work schedules can improve retention, attract top talent, deepen the talent pool for recruitment, achieve greater workforce diversity, improve attendance, generate cost savings, and reduce the company’s real estate footprint. Flexible work arrangements are popular and effective with office staff as well as many other positions.

What are some examples of flexible work schedules?

Flexible work comes in many different forms. Flex time arrangements set core hours and then employees can control the rest of their daily schedule. A compressed work week lengthens the workday, allowing a full week of work in just 4 days. Job-sharing splits a full-time job between two or more people. Remote work schedules assume the work is completed away from a central office—at home or practically anywhere else that allows work to be completed effectively. Other forms of flexible work include self-service employee scheduling and fixed rotating shifts.

How can flexible work be monitored properly?

Clear guidelines and regular communication are a must when employing flexible work schedules. Do yourself a favor and use timekeeping and scheduling tools to do the heavy lifting. Have employees clock their time against schedules you build.

What should I consider when building flexible work schedules?

Start by understanding your labor needs. For example, when and where does work need to be done? Next, consider your labor constraints. Who is willing and able to perform the work, and what are the governing laws? Then create the work schedule, including assigned and open shifts. Scheduling and timekeeping software can be enormously helpful in building, tracking and enforcing schedules.

How do I maintain labor cost control?

Automated scheduling and timekeeping software is invaluable for maintaining labor cost control in a flexible work environment. This level of control and accountability in turn allows businesses to offer the greatest schedule flexibility for the benefit of the entire organization.

See also

• Fair Workweek Laws
• Employee Scheduling
• Employee Scheduling Software
• Wage and Hour Laws

Additional resources

• Flexible Work Schedules: How to Support Even Super Short Shifts of Varying Lengths
• How to Make Sure Employees are Turning in Time Cards (Solve Late Time Cards for Good)
• 3 Things You Can Do Right Now to Speed Up Timecard Approvals
• 6 Important Reasons Even Very Small Businesses Should Use Online Timesheets
• 8 Reasons Your Subcontractors Should Use A Mobile Time Tracking App
• The Best Employee Time Tracking Solution to Replace an Old-Fashioned Punch Card System
• Flexible Schedules: An Employee Perk that Helps Small Businesses Compete
• Simplify Flexible Work Schedules with Workforce Management Software
• Comprehensive Guide: How to Improve Employee Scheduling to Fast Track Business Recovery