4.6.1 Flextime definition and purpose A flextime work schedule is an alternative work schedule for employees who normally work the eight-hour, five-day workweek, usually from 8 a.m. Flextime scheduling permits employees to select a work schedule that may assist with individual needs, especially commuting needs and family needs. Flextime™ – Plating and Finishing Line Controls. Flextime™ is the fourth generation of sequentially evolving Wet Process Line Controls. Based on the 1 st Gen HP 9825, 2 nd Gen IBM XT, 3 rd Gen HP 9000, Flextime is the 4 th Gen and first ever Object Oriented SW solution in the market. Flextime is difficult to implement in situations where workstations must be staffed at all times. Flextime makes communication and control more difficult for supervisors. Flextime makes it difficult to recruit and retain personnel. Flextime leads to increased energy costs due to extended facility hours. With prior Cost Center Manager approval, an employee’s work hours may be established outside of the Department’s normal business hours provided the. Employee is able to meet the requirements of his/her position. Flextime does not reduce the total number of hours worked in a given week or a pay period.
Flextime: What Is It And Should Your Company Use It?
Work/life balance is vital for your employees’ health, happiness, and well-being. And, as many employers are discovering, it’s essential for their productivity as well. That’s why increasingly more managers are offering flextime instead of the strict 9-to-5 workday.
How, exactly, can flextime improve your business? In this article, the productivity experts at Sling show you all the benefits of this unique work schedule.
What Is Flextime?
Flextime is a flexible schedule in which workers can alter workday start and finish times. Employees are still required to work a set number of hours per day (e.g., eight) or per week (e.g., 40), but they are allowed to choose when — within agreed-upon limits — they will clock in and when they will clock out.
How Flextime Works
It’s those “agreed-upon limits” that make flextime unique as a work scheduling practice. If you implement flextime in your business, you might set the following restrictions on when your employees can work:
- May start work no earlier than 5 a.m.
- May finish work no later than 9 p.m.
With the above example, an employee could begin work at 5 a.m., work eight hours, and finish at 1 p.m. Or their workday could start at 1 p.m. and end at 9 p.m.
This is fine if employees work autonomously. But if they work together as part of a team, you could run into some problems.
That’s why flextime usually incorporates core time. Core time is set hours when all employees must be present. It’s during this span of time that meetings and collaboration occur between employees working different flexible schedules.
For example, if you used the flextime limits listed above (not earlier than 5 a.m. and not later than 9 p.m.), your core time might be 10 a.m. to 1 p.m.
What Are The Benefits Of Flextime?
The benefits of flextime are myriad and encompass everything from peak productivity to preferred work habits. Below we’ve listed three basic benefits of incorporating a flextime schedule. Examine the concept of flextime for yourself and we’re sure you’ll add more to this list.
1) Allows For Easier Childcare
Childcare can be one of the biggest headaches for a working parent, especially if their partner is working too. What if there’s a school delay or cancellation?
With flextime, your employee has the option to report to work and leave work later. That makes it easier to deal with changes in their child’s schedule.
2) Allows For Continuing Education
Offering a flextime schedule can transform the idea of continuing education from fantasy to reality.
With a flextime schedule, employees can report to work after their class has finished (say, at noon) and still get a full eight-hour day in. At the other end of the spectrum, they can work a full eight-hour day and still have time to take a class or two in the afternoon.
3) Allows Employees To Avoid Rush Hour
The daily commute can add an hour to your employees’ workday. With rush-hour traffic, that hour can quickly become two (or more).
By offering a flextime work schedule, you give your employees the option to miss the rush hour completely. That gives them more energy for work in the morning and more time with their family at night.
How To Set Up Your Flextime Schedule
The best way to start when implementing a flextime schedule is to establish your core time first. If your team normally works together in the afternoons, you might want a mandatory block of time together after lunch. If your team normally works together in the mornings, that mandatory block of time could be before lunch.
It’s essential to start with your core time first because it dramatically affects the outside limits of when employees can start and finish work.
For example, if you know you want your team to have four hours of core time and your start-work limit is 5 a.m., your core time should begin by 9 a.m. at the latest. This ensures that the early workers are able to leave after eight hours. In this scenario, everyone has to be at work by 9 a.m., but they could start earlier if they so desired.
As you can see, it gets a little complicated if your limits are too widely spaced. Most businesses establish a six-hour core time and then allow employees two hours of flextime on either side.
Make Scheduling Flextime Simple With Sling
When you offer the option of flextime to your employees, you give them a bit of freedom within a very structured system. Ditching the 9-5 — or at least being flexible about when hours are worked — helps your team members feel more in control of their own schedules.
We’re not advocating cutting employee hours down to part-time. Rather, we suggest trying new ways to accumulate 40 hours each week. Here are a few examples of flexible schedules that might work in your business:
- Four 10-hour days
- 9-hour shifts Monday through Thursday and a 4-hour shift on Friday
- 80 hours in 9 days and then the 10th day off
- 6.5-hour shifts 6 days a week
Flextime is a wonderful incentive for your employees, but it is also a nightmare to schedule. That doesn’t mean you have to chuck the idea completely.
Instead, incorporate a cloud-based employee management app, like Sling, to give you and your employees the ability and freedom to create the schedule that works for your business.
Employees can access Sling anytime from their phones, mobile devices, or desktop computers. They can request time off, find their own substitutes, tweak their schedules to fit their needs, and so much more.
It also gives you, the manager, the ability to track the hours your employees have worked without your physically being there. The power and flexibility that Sling offers make flextime a very real option for businesses large and small.
For more free resources to help you manage your business better, organize and schedule your team, and track and calculate labor costs, visit GetSling.com today.
Policy Manual | |||
Manual: | DCF | DCF Wide | Effective Date: 8.29.2020 |
Volume: | III | Administrative Policies | |
Chapter: | A | Human Resources | Revised Date: 8.29.2020 |
Subchapter: Temp monitor 1 0 5. | 2 | Work Hours | |
Issuance: | 200 | Flextime |
Purpose:
To allow employees to organize their work hours around their personal and family obligations as well as to provide services to families that are not available during regular DCF business hours. This program is voluntary.
This policy applies to all DCF staff, with the exception of staff who work in offices where 24-hour coverage is required in order to not compromise operations. Accordingly, based on operational need, the Commissioner may designate other positions, functions or units for which this policy also would not apply.
·Fair Labor Standards Act 29 U.S.C. 201 etseq.
·N.J.S.A.App.A:9-33.1
·N.J.A.C. 4A:6-2.1 etseq.
A.Flextime
1.WithpriorCostCenterManagerapproval,anemployee’sworkhoursmaybe established outside of the Department’s normal business hours providedthe
employee is able to meet the requirements of his/her position.
2.Flextime does not reduce the total number of hours worked in a given week or a payperiod.
3.Employee work times may begin and end at any interval between the hours of 8:00 am - 8:00 pm, Saturday through Friday with the written approval of the employee’s Cost CenterManager.
a.Employees shall perform a minimum of seven (7) or eight (8)hours of work per day based upon their titles and designated work week (35, NE, NL, 40, N4).
Flextime 1 4 3 X 2
b.Employees are permitted to seek approval to flex their hours of work in 2, 3, 4, 5-hour blocks, (examples: 8:00 am to 10:00 am, then 3:00 pm to8:00 pm or 8:00 am to 11:00 am, then 4:00 pm to 8:00 pm). Or request earlier or later work start times (examples: 10am-6pm, 10:30am-6:30pm, or 12pm-8pm.).
c.Staff may flex their hours of work no more than 3 days per work week. Staff must work during normal DCF Business hours 2 days per workweek.
Flextime 1 4 3 =
d.Business continuity and shared understanding of schedules and office coverage require that Flextime arrangements remain fixed for a period of not less than 4 pay periods unless operational requirements or exigent circumstances, as determined by management, warrant a change. All changes must be approved, in advance, by the employee’s Cost Center Manager. Flex schedules shall be developed in collaboration with supervisorystaff.
e.Flextime arrangements are not intended to address employee’s or their family members ongoing health care needs. Staff seeking leave for their own medical care or the care of others should review the DCF Leave Policy and contact their leave coordinator for information related to medicalleave.
4.Employees are required to set their schedules in concert with their supervisorforapprovalwithfinalauthorizationbytheCostCenterManager.
a.A proposed Flextime schedule and justification must be submitted, in writing, to the supervisor for approval and the Cost Center Manager for finalauthorizationatleasttwo(2)weekspriortotheimplementationofthe employee’s new workhours.
b.The Cost Center manager will review the request and determinewhether the employee’s request can be operationallysupported.
c.The Cost Center Manager shall provide the employee with awritten
notice of the Flextime determination and a copy will be provided to the employee’s supervisor and the Office of Human Resources within ten (10) business days of the request. Approval will not be unreasonably withheld or withdrawn.
d.EmployeesshallnotinitiateFlextimescheduleuntiltheCostCenterManager provides writtenauthorization.
e.Negotiated Flextime schedules are only valid within the unit the employee is currently assigned. Should staff transfer to another function, unit, office, or organizational unit within DCF a new schedule will need to be negotiated with the new supervisor and approved by Cost CenterManager.
f.The employee shall work the hours agreed upon and obtain approval from their supervisor in advance of working anyovertime.
1.DCF reserves the right to limit participation, require changes to schedules or discontinue participation in the Flextime Program based upon operational needs, performance, staffing patterns, health and safety issues or mandated obligations of the Department. If an employee’s flex schedule adversely affects their ability to perform essential tasks required for their position, arrangements can be discontinued. Affected employees shall be provided with minimum notice of at least one pay period, except in the event of time-sensitive or emergent matters. When these occasions arise, participating employees may be required to work their regular schedule on the next business day to ensure continuity of DCFoperations.
2.Flextime arrangements may be discontinued at any time at the request of the employee. Employees who request to discontinue their Flextime arrangements must work with their Supervisor to reestablish a work schedule during DCF normal businesshours.
3.Employees may not request to modify their Flextime arrangements before the passage of 4 pay periods without the approval of their Cost Center Manager. Such requests must be related to an unanticipated change related to COVID- 19.
4.PleaserefertotheFlextimeGuidelinesforadditionalinformationaboutprogram participation andlimitations.
“Flextime” is an alternative to the traditional nine (9) to five (5), 35 - 40-hour work week. It allows employees to vary their arrival and/or departure or start and/or end times.
·DCF-III-A-2-200 Att 1, DCF FlextimeGuidelines
·DCF-III-A-2-200 Att 2, DCF Flextime ScheduleRequest
Flextime 1 4 3 X 4
·Attachment 3 - Active Titles with Work Week Codes and FSLADesignations
·DCF-III-A-1-002.2009,TimekeepingPolicy
Flextime 1 4 32
·DCF-III-A-1-001-2008, Work HoursPolicy
·DCF-III-A-1-004.2008, LeavePolicy