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Flexible Time

One of the most common forms of flexible working is varying the hours of work from the "standard" 9-5, five days per week model.

The most commonly found forms of non-standard or flexible hours arrangements are:

  • flexible hours or "flexitime" schemes

  • part-time working

  • term time working

  • jobshare

  • compressed working weeks

  • annualised hours

  • zero hours

Whose flexibility?

The benefits of time flexibility can be felt primarily by the employer, the employee, or by both.

And you have to clarify what is meant by flexibility. Does it mean primarily  

  • that the employee can "flex" their hours to fit in with their other life commitments, 

    or 

  • that the employer can manage better the peaks and troughs in demand by flexible shift patterns, and by having "just-in-time" labour on tap?

It is important, though, not to fall into the trap of seeing one as necessarily "better" than another. Plenty of people are happy to work to non-standard work times which are determined by their employer - especially if they have some choice about which shifts or days to work.

What are the benefits?

For the employee, the major benefits can be:

  • better work-life balance

  • ability to avoid stressful commute times for journeys to work

  • ability to have more control over time off (e.g. in compressed working week,  term-time working, part-time working and jobshare) 

For the employer, benefits include

  • ability to meet fluctuations in demand

  • ability to provide round-the-clock cover

  • ability to retain valued staff when other demands on their time may be high

  • ability to make more efficient use of facilities.

What are the issues?

Key issues revolve around

  • trust and supervision

  • communication between staff who work at varying times, and who may meet less frequently

  • optimising use of the buildings (and car parks)

  • integrating non-core staff (e.g. those on all with zero-hours contracts

  • achieving fairness in benefits for all staff

Resources in Flexibility relating to Flexible Time

Flexible time options - an overview
Flexi-time, annualised hours, compressed working weeks, part-time, zero hours, time accounts, 9/80 schedules, leave options, term-time working – if you’re thinking of introducing “temporal flexibility”, or widening the range of options, here’s the place to start

Flexible workers - and flexible rostering
How to know who's doing what where and when - and how to align the scheduling with business needs

Part-time work: who wants it? 
We take a look at Europe-wide figures, to see who's working part-time and who would like to.

The Flexible Executive
We feature a report based on case studies of senior managers who work reduced hours - part-time, jobshare etc. Plenty of food for thought here

Burning the candle at both ends
How managers are experiencing the workplace revolution - with figures from the Quality of Life 2000 survey

Laptops, working hours and work ethic
A report based on survey work by e-MORI ties up the use of new technologies with working hours and worker attitudes


For detailed analysis of working time patterns and issues, an excellent source is the Bulletin of European Studies on Time (BEST), available from the European Foundation for the Improvement of Living and Working Conditions.