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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:
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
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| 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. |
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