Should you use flextime in your organization?

To determine whether you should institute flextime, ask these questions:

• Does the concept of flextime have application to the organization's problems?
• Does it appear to offer some solutions?
• Is the size of your workforce sufficiently large or the workload of a nature that flextime could work?
• Are there positions which could not be converted to flextime?
• Do they constitute a significant part of the workforce?
• Are they a fairly self-contained unit?
• What types of problems could result from the restriction on some positions?
• What is union reaction to the idea?
• Does your organization or some of its sections have contact with the public on a regular volume basis?
• Are there peak periods of workload generated by phone, mail or public contact that can be identified?
• Do certain days of the week present a heavier workload than others?
• Do certain times of the month present a heavier workload than others?
• What are minimum manning levels required to do the job during peak workload periods? during other periods?
• Are there daily or periodic scheduling or production deadlines to be met?
• What interrelationships exist within your organization that could be affected?
• Have you studied the organization's work flow to identify points at which scheduling would have a major impact?
• When are meetings typically held? Can these times be changed to fall within core time?
• Is the same core time appropriate for the entire organization or should various interrelated sections interrelate be grouped and several core times identified?
• Does telephone contact play a major role within your organization? Can you identify peak periods?
• Are certain areas concerned primarily with handling incoming and outgoing mail? Can you identify peak periods?

Who might need it the most? The Employment Policy Foundation's Center for Work and Family Balance examined the needs of America's working caregivers for more workplace flexibility. Its study focused on the many workers providing eldercare, childcare or both and potential workplace solutions to helping those employees achieve better work and family balance, finding that America's workforce is currently facing increased difficulty balancing their work and family commitments. Longer life spans coupled with an increase in dual-earner and single-parent households have left many employees juggling caregiving and professional responsibilities.

The need to balance these responsibilities has a significant impact on employees' work habits. The study found that US businesses lost between $11.4 billion and $29 billion annually due to lost productivity relating to employee involvement in eldercare. Employees' childcare responsibilities also significantly affect businesses. The analysis found that working parents miss work on average 3.6 times per year due to a failure in regular childcare arrangements.