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Flextime (or flexitime Flexi-time) is a variable work schedule, in contrast to traditional work arrangements requiring employees to work a standard 9am to 5pm day. Under flexitime, there is typically a core period of the day when employees are expected to be at work (for example, between 10 am and 4pm), whilst the rest of the working day is "flexitime", in which employees can choose when they work, subject to achieving total daily, weekly or monthly hours in the region of what the employer expects, and subject to the necessary work being done.

A Flextime policy (when people work) can be differentiated against a Flexplace policy that allows staff to determine where they will work.

Contents 1 Flextime (or Flexitime) in the United Kingdom 2 Flextime in the United States 3 Flextime in Australia 4 Recording Flexitime Working 5 Core times/Flexi days/Half flexi days 6 See also 7 External links

In spring 2003, 17.7% of men and 26.7% of women were employed with Flexi-time arrangements in the United Kingdom, (Office for National Statistics 2003)[1]. In the United Kingdom, flexitime working is commonplace in both the private and public sectors. The practice is often found in administrative and back office functions of commercial organisations and local councils.

In 2003 the UK Government introduced legislation[2] that gave parents of children under 6, or the parents of disabled children under 18, the right in law to request a flexible working arrangement from their employer. A survey in 2005 by the National Office of Statistics [3] showed that 71% of female workers and 60% of male workers were aware of the rights created under the 2003 legislation. Between 2003 and 2005 more than 14% of all workers had requested a change to flexible working. From 6 April 2007 the law will extend the right to request flexible working to carers of adults.

Shift workers are generally excluded from flexitime schemes as are senior managers. Other groups of workers for whom flexitime arrangements are rare include those who serve the public during specific opening times.

For employers, flexitime can aid the recruitment and retention of staff. It can also help provide staff cover outside normal working hours and reduce the need for overtime. Additionally flexitime can also improve the provision of equal opportunities to staff unable to work standard hours.

Flexitime can give employees greater freedom to organise their working lives to suit personal needs. In addition, travelling can be cheaper and easier if it is out of peak time.

On the debit side, flexitime can result in increased administration costs. These may include the costs of keeping records, and extra heating and lighting. Providing adequate supervision throughout the bandwidth may also be difficult. (Advisory, Conciliation and Arbitration Service 2006)

In the United States, flextime workers, like salaried workers exempted from overtime regulations, are given broad leeway in setting their own work schedule. Unlike exempted salaried workers, employers are still required to pay overtime to a flextime worker if they work more than 40 hours per week. In addition, the employer will usually require that a flextime employee works a minimum number of hours each week.

In recent years, the term "flextime" has acquired a more controversial definition when used to describe proposals to overhaul the nation's overtime regulations. Under one such proposal by the Bush administration made public on August 5, 2004, employers would not be required to pay non-exempt employees overtime for working more than 40 hours in a week so long as the employee works no more than 80 hours over a two week period. For example, a worker could be required to work 70 hours one week and receive no overtime compensation as long as they work 10 hours or less the following week. Such arrangements are opposed by labor organizations such as the AFL-CIO.

In certain industries such as information technology, flextime permits workers to vary their schedule for example such as working four 10 hour days per week, this allows workers to put in enough hours Monday through Thursday and leave early on Friday. Other workers come in early such as 5 or 6 am (0500 to 0600) and leave in the mid-afternoon or come in late and therefore leave late. One benefit of such a schedule is that commuting times occur outside of the congested rush hour traffic within a given geographic region. Flextime arrangements also help parents: one parent works 10am-6pm and is in charge of the children before school/daycare, while the other parent works 7am-3pm and is in charge of the children after school/daycare. This allows parents time to commute [4]. Flextime is also beneficial to workers pursuing an education.

In the U.S., flextime generally applies only to white collar workers. It is an ongoing part of the work/life balance discussions going on in many companies.

Flextime in Australia is usually referred to accumulated overtime hours that an employee can build up and exchange for the equivalent amount of time off. (Example: Jane works 7am - 3pm Monday to Friday. Over the past month, Jane has worked 8 hours overtime meaning she is eligible for a paid day off.) It is implemented formally in the Australian Federal Public Service and is available for staff in most state and territory government departments. With current changes to industrial relations laws (2006), from State to Federal level there are no new published guidelines (online) for flextime.

There are many different methods used for recording working time ranging from sophisticated software (computer programmes)to handwritten time sheets. Most of these methods are associated with the payment of wages in return for hours worked. As a result they often do not address a fundamental difference of most flexible working systems - namely the intention of flexible working to allow an employee to "trade hours" with their employer in return for a fixed wage (Hayward, Bruce; Fong, Barry & Thornton, Alex (December, 2007), "The Third Work-Life Balance Employer Survey: Main Findings", UK Govt. Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform, <http://www.berr.gov.uk/files/file38388.pdf>).

A flexitime sheet records hours in a similar way to a normal time sheet, adding a vital calculation - the difference between actual hours worked in a given period and the number of hours agreed or contracted with the employer during that period. This difference (positive or negative) is normally calculated on a rolling basis to give a rolling flexitime balance.

Examples of such systems can be found quite easily - just search on-line for "flexitime sheet" with any search engine.

The following times listed are meant for illustration purposes only and are but one example of how flextime may be implemented at a workplace. Certain employers may choose different core times and impose different lunch break rules. There is no clear standard for flextime core hours.

Core times may be from:

• 10.00am (anyone not using half/full flexi days) must be in work at or before that time. The only time when you can go outside core times is for genuine appointments. Genuine appointments include e.g.
  • Doctor
  • Hospital
  • Dentist
  • Asked to attend jury service
  • Job Centre/Job interview
  • Study leave/to sit an exam
  • Other valid reason to be out of work e.g. sessions/outings with support worker.

The employee must let his/her line manager know about the above. If the employee needs to take the full day or half of the day off work he/she must take it as annual leave/flexi/off sick and must let their line manager know.

• 12.00noon - 2.00pm (covers the whole of the lunch period, however if the employee is taking half/full flexi days or extended lunches, those over the standard 1 hour, they must ask permission from their line manager)
• 4.00pm - This is the earliest time an employee can finish work if they are not using half/full flexi days, but they must ask their line manager permission if they wish to finish at 4.00 or anything else earlier than their normal finish time, like say their normal finish time is 5.00pm (e.g. 4.30pm)

Lunch break lengths

• Minimum - 30 minutes
• Standard - 1 hour
• Maximum - 2 hours (must cover the whole lunch period, 12.00 to 2.00). However if the employee wishes to take extended lunch or the maximum lunch break he/she must ask permission from their line manager (because it involves using flexi)

Morning/afternoon breaks

• 15 minutes in the morning and 15 minutes in the afternoon (depending on place/firm your work for - each one varies)

• A full day off work when someone has made up their time (in credit) for a full day is called a flexi day/flexileave/flex day)
• A half day off work when someone has made up their time (in credit) for a half day is called a half day's flexi/half day's flexi leave - Can either be taken in the morning or the afternoon.
• You can take 1 full flexi day per month or split 2 half days in the same month.

If the employee wishes to ask for a full flexi day or half flexi day, he/she must ask permission from their line manager. However in some circumstances e.g. short staffed, or it turns out to be short-staffed e.g. anyone goes off sick etc, the employee may be refused their flexi day or half flexi day or they may have it cancelled on short notice, your line manager will inform if this arises. To check for honesty and bona-fideness you must also let your line manager know and/or your line manager may ask how much flexi time you have on your accruement.

• Overtime
• Fair Labor Standards Act (United States)
• Office for National Statistics (UK)
• Equal Opportunity Employment
• Labour (economics)
• Flexitime Policy

• Advisory Conciliation and Arbitration Service (2006) ‘Flexible working hours’ [Accessed: on 15 February 2007].
• Office for National Statistics - ‘3.20 Employees’ use of flexible working time arrangements: by gender, Spring 2000 [Accessed: on 07 November 2006] [Dead Link 01 November 2007]
• The Value of Flextime
• Reconciling labour flexibility with social cohesion — Facing the challenge [Accessed: on 01 July 2007].